


Code Lyoko: A New Generation

by Alomomola



Category: Code Lyoko
Genre: Gen, Growing Up, Plot, Saving the World, Sequel, with some character development of course
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:21:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 78,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28233837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alomomola/pseuds/Alomomola
Summary: Decades have passed since the Lyoko Warriors vanquished their enemy XANA once and for all. Odd, Yumi, Ulrich, Jeremie and Aelita have all moved on with their lives since then--with stable jobs, stable marriages, and stable families. Their lives have found a sense of normalcy unavailable to them during their junior high years, no longer preoccupied with stopping XANA's newest attack. With their worlds at peace, the five of them have raised five children: Cynthia Belpois, Ophelia and Flynn Della Robbia, and Hiroki and Viktoria Stern. Though the original Lyoko Warriors don't stay in touch as much, their children attend Kadic Academy together.Their children go about their lives at Kadic just as their parents used to, only without the looming threat of an evil artificial intelligence hanging over them. They remain blissfully unaware of the dangerous lives their parents lived at their age, but everything changes the day their gym teacher goes inexplicably berserk. He kidnaps Cynthia and takes her to the local abandoned factory, exposing her and her friends to the world of Lyoko. Somehow, XANA has risen yet again, and a new generation of Lyoko Warriors must rise to defeat their parents' old enemy.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 102





	1. A World Without Danger

Whenever Flynn Della-Robbia recalled the beginning of his tutelage at Kadic Academy, he mostly remembered the rolling sense of dread that had been building up in his gut for the preceding months. He hated the idea of going to a boarding school. He had spent all of his summer before seventh grade loathing the very idea of it. He asked his father, repeatedly, why he couldn’t just attend a public school in the same town he lived in--like a normal kid. And then, Flynn remembered the conversation he had exchanged with his father over and over again that summer: 

“You’re gonna love it!” he had said. “Just trust me.”

“How can I trust you?” Flynn’d asked.

“My parents sent me to Kadic, and I turned out just fine.”

“That’s subjective.” 

“Oh, shut up. I made the best friends of my life at Kadic. We had the adventures of a lifetime--you won’t believe how fun it is there.” 

And, at first, Flynn really couldn’t believe it--because Kadic was absolutely not fun. He had no friends and nothing to do. The school was located in Villanova, a bustling suburb just far enough from the actual city to be boring. There were only so many small-town cafes and restaurants to keep one entertained. 

Flynn was lucky that he had a crutch at Kadic--and that crutch was named Ophelia. In fact, Flynn thanked his lucky stars that he had his twin sister. Before Kadic, he had almost resented Ophelia for so many different things. His hair was a bland dirty brown, while she inherited their father’s bright blonde hair. Flynn had begged his father to let him dye his hair; he knew for a fact that his father had done the same while at Kadic. She was so much better at making friends and getting people to like her, and Flynn had no idea. They were twins--they couldn’t be that different, could they? Whenever he’d ask her what her secret was, she’d shrug and say, “Just be yourself. That’s what I do.” She was more popular, she got better grades, and occasionally she was a millimeter taller than him. She was tough competiton.

But at Kadic, Ophelia was his saving grace. In the first week of seventh grade, Ophelia was jumping back and forth between new friends she had made in her classes--and, thank God, she let him hang out with her friends. Somehow, they all liked him. That was an incredible relief.

Now it was sophomore year. Flynn was more confident in his social skills, and in himself in general. While he and his sister both had plenty of friends, there had always been a solid foursome he was committed to: him, his sister, Cynthia, and Hiroki.

Admittedly, he also knew Cynthia and Hiroki prior to Kadic, though they weren’t really friends. Their parents were close friends with his dad--they had all gone to Kadic together. Flynn actually thought that Cynthia and Hiroki were his cousins when he was younger; however, they were never very close. And as they grew up, their parents’ visits became less frequent, so he saw the two of them less often. When Flynn began attending Kadic, he would recognize them campus and maybe wave at them occassionally, but never anything beyond that.

That, however, changed in eighth grade. On the very first day of the school year, he had received a phone call from his sister during class. He hung up on her, and she called him again, three times. When class was finally dismissed, he called her back.

“What could be so important?” he asked her. “You better be, like, in the hospital.”

“No!” she said excitedly. “Guess who I saw! Guess who’s in my math class!” 

“I don’t know.”

“You have to guess, Flynn--oh, whatever. It’s Cynthia!” 

He had to think for a second. “Cynthia… Wait. Cynthia Belpois?”

“Who else? Of course it’s Cynthia Belpois. But yeah--she, like, looks so different than when I last saw her! I talked to her after class, and she’s just, like, she’s so cool!”

Ophelia was absolutely enamored by Cynthia for some reason. She wanted to be her new best friend. Flynn was a little confused by this newfound adoration, but he agreed to have lunch with Cynthia and Ophelia, for old times’ sake. While he wasn’t as captivated as his sister was, he liked Cynthia too. She was cool, she was funny, and she was incredibly smart. Flynn’s father had told him about her parents before. Her mother--who Flynn always called Aunt Aelita--was an emergency room doctor, while her father--Uncle Jeremie--was incredibly good at programming and did something that Flynn didn’t know the job title of. Still, Flynn always wanted to be just like her father. And Cynthia fell not far from the tree: she was an all A student, she helped tutor other students, and she was always shooting for the stars, though she could never make up her mind. Some days she wanted to be a doctor like her mom, or a lawyer, or she wanted to learn five languages, or she wanted to go to business school. It was intimidating to hear that from a fellow high schooler. 

The three of them hung out on a daily basis. Hiroki came in months later, about halfway through the school year. Beforehand, they had contemplated reaching out to him to reconnect--Cynthia said he seemed like he hung out with his own crowd. So for the first semester of the year, they never spoke to him. 

A month into the second semester, Flynn was by himself one day. Ophelia was sick, and Cynthia was out for a funeral. He had other friends, of course, but he always had lunch with those two. He was content with sitting by himself that day, and he did just that. Five minutes into devouring his cafeteria lunch, he looked up and saw Hiroki staring right at him from across the table. 

“Oh my God,” he said. “I didn’t see you were there. Hiroki?”

“Are you Flynn?” he asked.

He nodded, unable to communicate through a mouthful of food. “It’s been forever. How are you? How are your parents?”

“They’re fine,” he said. “I didn’t recognize you. You look a lot different.” 

Flynn nodded. That was a good thing--he had been a chubby kid. “Yeah. It’s been a few years since your parents have come over.” 

“Yeah, I don’t know what’s up with that,” he said, shrugging. “I actually really liked hanging out with you guys. How’s your sister and Cynthia?” 

Flynn flinched. He knew it was obvious they were a group, but he felt bad for excluding Hiroki, unintentionally or not. “They’re great. We hang out a lot.” 

“Yeah, I’ve seen you guys together a lot recently.” 

He flinched again. He couldn’t tell if Hiroki was intentionally blunt or socially stunted. 

“Do you...uh, do you want to have lunch with us sometimes?”

Hiroki tried to hide a smile. “Sure,” he said, casually. 

Things were more gradual with Hiroki, but by the end of the year they were a tight crew. When Flynn’s father found out who his closest friends were, he was absolutely elated. Flynn did think it was funny that he and his father basically befriended the same family, just within different generations. He got to see his friends’ parents more often, sometimes hanging out at their houses on the weekends. They even visited him and Ophelia a few times over the summer. They would hang out in the basement, catching up and playing video games and board games, while their parents would reminisce upstairs in the kitchen as his dad and mom prepared dinner. 

“I think it’s incredible that you guys are friends with each other,” said Cynthia’s mother--whom, along with all the other parents, Flynn had started calling by their first name, as strange as it was. “You almost remind me of when we were in Kadic.” 

“Almost, but not quite the same,” said Flynn’s father. 

“What’s different?” Hiroki asked. 

Hiroki’s father--once Uncle Ulrich, now just Ulrich--replied, “You guys seem less cool than we do.” Hiroki rolled his eyes. 

“I just think it’s, like, meant to be, how you guys all reconnected,” Aelita said. 

“How did you guys meet?” Ophelia asked. 

None of them answered at first. Mrs. Ishiyama--Yumi--replied: “All of us, uh, we always got in trouble, so we ended up working together.”

“Yeah.” Ulrich nodded. “That’s why we’re cooler than you nimwits.” 

“You guys don’t want to be cool the way we were, though,” said Aelita. “Trust me.” 

All of them were good kids. Hiroki was too meek to want to cause trouble; Cynthia was the perfect student; Ophelia was right behind Cynthia and was loved by everyone; and Flynn at least was giving an earnest effort and earning B’s. He couldn’t imagine trouble coming their way; they all made sure to veer out of it. Kadic, while not a piece of cake, was a world without danger.

* * *

Hiroki had dropped his facade of paying attention to his teacher already. He was slumped over at his desk, conceding to boredom. He twisted his wrist to glance at his watch. 11:50 a.m. Still 5 minutes to go. 

_Ugh._ He sighed, and his stomach rumbled. He had second lunch every day of the week. Absolutely insufferable. 

He noticed that something was being handed out now. He glanced at Mrs. Shu, and for a moment he assumed it was a quiz he had already forgotten to study for--it was merely a syllabus. He let a sigh of relief, which he quickly sucked back in when the paper reached his hand: they had a test in the first three weeks. How? This was high school algebra.

He checked his wrist again. 11:51. _This sucks._ His friends, his real friends, the twins and Cynthia, weren’t in his class this year. He had lunch with them most days, so there was something to look forward to. And he could hang out with them all he wanted from 3 p.m. till curfew hit. But Hiroki was afraid that wouldn’t be enough. The three of them all had most of their classes together. He feared they would make new, better friends to fill up their time with. Those three were the first real friends he had. He loved every moment he spent with them--every part of the last six months and two weeks. He couldn’t lost that. 

The bell finally rang. Hiroki quickly shoved the syllabus into his backpack--it was wrinkled in between his books, but he’d worry about that later. As he walked to the door, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Hiroki, can I talk to you?” Mrs. Shu asked quietly. 

He nodded, hoping no one noticed. Mrs. Shu waited until everyone else had cleared the room. Hiroki wasn’t sure what to expect. He had Mrs. Shu the previous year for math as well--and he hadn’t gotten the best grade, but at least he passed. She was always there to help him. In fact, Hiroki would say she knew him best out of any of his teachers. They were somewhat on friendly terms--though she still possessed a professional demeanor that kept him wary. 

“You seemed distracted today, Hiroki.” He stared at the ground, not sure how to defend myself. Mrs. Shu continued: “You remember how you did last year. I don’t want you off to a bad start already. I _want_ you to succeed in my class this year, Hiroki.” 

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “It’s, uh, it’s just hard getting back into the whole, uh, school mindset, you know?” He glanced up--she was nodding. “Especially, since, well, math isn’t...that interesting--or, um, I’m not good at it, so, uh--” 

She nodded again--unoffended. “It’s okay, Hiroki. I understand how you feel. I know you struggled last year, but I saw you were able to improve by the end of it. I want you to keep that energy going into this year and stay on top of your academics, and maybe--” 

“Academics aren’t my strong suit,” he said. 

She folded her arms. “Well, what is your strong suit?”

The best answer he could give her was a half-hearted shrug. “Do you do anything outside of class, Hiroki?” 

“I mean, I hang out with my friends and--”  
“I mean extracurriculars, Hiroki. Hobbies. Something to fill your time, give you a purpose.”

“I’m fourteen,” he said. “I don’t really know what my purpose is.” 

Mrs. Shu laughed. “You don’t have to have everything figured out. Your purpose doesn’t need to be some life changing goal. You don’t need to save the world. Just...find something fulfilling.” 

He finally made eye contact. “Wouldn’t it be better to focus on my academics?”

She smiled coyly. “I think you’re doing well enough now. And school should never be the only thing in your life. I won’t take up any more of your lunch, though. See you tomorrow, Hiroki.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Shu,” he said, walking out of the door. He was unsure what to take away from the conversation. She’d hit a sensitive topic. To be honest, Hiroki did feel...the best way to put it would be useless, which he know Mrs. Shu would disagree with. But what did he have going for him? His other friends were so much better than him. Cynthia was an incredible student and had a new career aspiration every week; Ophelia was not only smart but popular and in sports and fine arts; Flynn was in band and yet also wanted to be a programmer somehow. And Hiroki...was Hiroki. Hard as he tried, at the end of the day he’d earn a C or maybe a B, and he’d walk home with that. 

He would find something fulfilling. Something useful.

* * *

Cynthia sat at the lunch table across from the twins. It had been awhile since she’d last seen them--they lived so far from Villanova, and she had to rely on her parents to drive her still. Throughout the school year they saw each other every day, during and after school; in the summer and during breaks they had to resort to communication via text and the rare call, though Cynthia primarily texted Ophelia only. 

“Man, it’s gonna be nice to like, actually talk to you guys, face to face,” she said. 

“I know,” Ophelia said, grinning. “I don’t know how you survived without me.” 

“What did you do all summer?” Flynn asked. “How did you, like, not get bored?” 

“Jeez, I have other friends, you know. Hiroki is, like, five minutes away from me. And I hang out with other people, too.” 

“You turn 16 in January, so you can drive to us all the time.” 

“Like my parents would let me. They’re so protective.” 

“That’s what you get for being an only child,” Ophelia said, shaking her head in mockery as she lifted up her glass to drink. 

“That’s normal! Kids cost money. Your parents had six children. That’s, like, a small village.” 

“Hi, guys.” Hiroki sat down next to Cynthia.

“Oh my god,” Ophelia said, almost spilling water down her chin from surprise. “I didn’t see you there. Oh, how were classes? And, like, summer, too?”

“Summer was awesome, classes are the usual. It sucks not having you guys.” 

“Aw, I’m sorry, dude,” Cynthia said. “But hey, we have lunches together.”

“Yeah, I guess. I have history after, and that might make me fall into a coma.” 

“We get gym with Jim,” Flynn said. “We’re not living our best lives, either.” 

Suddenly, a pair of hands enwrapped Hiroki’s face and covered up his eyes. He instantly groaned. “What do you want, Viktoria?”

Hiroki’s older sister had appeared, eager to annoy her little brother. Cynthia avoided eye contact with her. She and Viktoria had used to be close friends when they were younger, when their parents had hung out more often. In fact, Viktoria had been her _best_ friend; but in simply a few years they had gradually drifted apart. Now, Viktoria barely acknowledged Cynthia. 

“Wow, hello to you, too,” Viktoria said to Hiroki, removing her hands from his face. “I just wanted to say hi to my brother. Who I’m related to. Don’t seem so weirded out by that.” 

“It’s just so rare of you to say hi to me during school.” 

His sister rolled her eyes. “How were classes?”

“Awesome. I’m getting A’s this year for sure.”

“Your optimism is your best quality, you know?” Viktoria ruffled with his hair, but Hiroki moved away and stood up. “I think I’ll pass on hanging out. I’m gonna go.” He picked up his tray--his drink full and his meal hardly even played with--and walked over to the exit of the cafeteria, dumping his lunch into the trash can. 

“I don’t think he’s doing well,” Flynn observed.

“What a waste of good food,” said Ophelia. 

Viktoria shook her head. “He’s going through a phase, I hope,” she said to herself. She finally looked down at the rest of them. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. Uh, how are you guys? How’s sophomore year?”

“Good. How’s school been for you?” Cynthia asked. 

“Oh, fine enough. Just...boring.” Someone called out for Viktoria. She glanced towards the crew at her table, who were insistently waving her over. She turned around, then turned back to Ophelia and Cynthia. “Sorry, I guess I gotta go.”

* * *

Flynn was quickly remembering why he loathed gym class more than anything else. Not only was he bad at everything they did, but the heat was absolutely unrelenting--and they had gym in the middle of the day, when the sun was at its hottest. He only hoped that today would be an easy day and that their teacher wouldn’t make them actually work. 

Their teacher--Jim Morales--was slowly going through the attendance roll. As the years passed by, Jim got slower and slower with rolecall. With every other name he read off the list, he would usually ramble into some digressional story, and by the end of rolecall there’d only be ten minutes left of class. He was somewhere in his 60’s, they assumed; any time a student inquired about his age, he rebuttled with something about a barrier between students and teachers. He hadn’t taught at Kadic in a few years and had come back due to a faculty shortage. 

“Let’s see who we have here…” he muttered, going down the role-call list. “Uh...God, what ethnicity is this? Not sure how to say this first part. Uh...Cynthia...Bell-poy?” 

“Belpois. Cynthia Belpois, sir. 

“Hm… Belpois. I feel like that oughta ring a bell.” 

“Uh, Jeremie Belpois, sir?” 

His eyes went wide, and he peered closer at her face. Cynthia inched away. “Unbelievable! I can’t believe myself! I haven’t heard that name in years. He and that Alina girl, huh… You look incredibly like your mother. Incredible… Uh, you can sit down.” He checked her name off of the list. 

“Let’s see who else we have. Tessa Baritoli--yep, Peter Chapman, Allison Davidson… Are you guys transfer students? No? Hm. Interesting. Who else we go, uh… Ah! The Della-Robbia twins.” Ophelia and Flynn both stood up, and Jim examined them intensely. 

“I haven’t had the pleasure of teaching you two,” Jim said. “I have had the misfortune of teaching your father, Odd Della-Robbia. He was, uh… Well, quite frankly, Odd was a pain in the ass. Love the guy, but good Lord was he nothing but trouble. I hope it isn’t genetic, alright?”

He stared at them, waiting for an answer. “Uh, no need to worry, sir,” Ophelia said. 

Jim nodded. “Good attitude, kid. Uh, which one are you?”

She was confused by the question. “I’m, um, Ophelia.”

He nodded again, slowly. “Noted.” 

The twins sat back down, unsure how to feel about that. Their father’s description of Jim was quite different. According to him, his skills as a “natural-born athlete” had made him Jim’s favorite student, to the point that Jim was moved to tears when Odd graduated. 

“Dad’s always full of shit,” whispered Ophelia. Flynn tried not to laugh too loud. 

“Next, uh…" Suddenly, Jim’s phone in his pocket began ringing. “Ah, shit,” he cursed. “I thought I turned this damn thing off. Lemme answer this…” He dropped the role-call sheet and dug into his pocket. He looked at his phone and appeared incredibly confused. 

“Uh...there’s some weird symbol on my phone?” he said. “And it’s from an unknown caller, too… Any of you kids know what this means?” 

“A virus?” someone suggested. 

“Well, uh… I dunno how I would’ve gotten that--ah, crap!” 

His phone dropped to the ground, landing on top of the role-call sheet. The phone didn’t break, but something much stranger happened. Electricity sparkled all over the phone’s surface, and then suddenly some strange, black, smoke-like substance emerged from the phone, hovering in the air like a ghost.

“What the hell is this?” Jim asked in alarm. The class started screaming, and a few kids started getting up. Flynn looked at his sister and Cynthia, not sure what to do. 

The black substance almost appeared to be moving on its own, shifting its way towards Jim. Suddenly, it rushed towards him and entered his body. The entire class screamed. Jim groaned and tried to fight off the ghost, and suddenly his entire body was shaking and grey, his arms and legs and all of his muscles were loose and spasming. It looked like a possession scene straight out of a horror movie. More kids got up and yelled for help, and Flynn got up with them. 

“We should go,” he urged the two of them. 

“Is he okay?” Cynthia asked. “We should help him.” 

“We’ll help by calling an ambulance.” 

“But someone needs to watch him! He could be--I don’t know, he might be electrocuted?”

Indeed, Jim had stopped spasming, and was standing straight up. His eyes were closed, and for a moment he looked like he was sleeping. His eyes opened suddenly, and he glanced around the area before walking towards Cynthia. 

“Are you okay, Jim?” Cynthia asked. 

No answer came from him, not even a nod or shake of the head. He stared at her and slowly placed his arm on her shoulder. He was breathing heavily, slowly. 

“Jim, can you talk?” Cynthia said. She tried to back away--Jim’s grip on her shoulder was tight. “You’re scaring me.” 

“Jim, let go of her,” Ophelia said, walking over and trying to pull his arm away. “You need to go to the infirmary, or maybe even the hospital. You just got shocked pretty bad, you should--”

Suddenly, Jim’s jerked his knee into Cynthia’s ribcage, knocking her out cold. An electrical field formed from nowhere and shocked and repelled Ophelia and Flynn back. Flynn groaned in pain, hardly able to even open his eyes. When he did, he saw...nothing. Both Jim and Cynthia were gone. 

“Ophelia?” he said, turning to his sister. “Are you okay?” 

“L-look,” she said weakly, pointing her arm somewhere. Flynn saw Jim running towards the woods with Cynthia hanging over his shoulder like a limp ragdoll. 

“Holy shit,” he muttered. “He just--did he just kidnap Cynthia?” 

“Go after him,” Ophelia said, managing to get up. “I’ll...I’ll call for help.” 

He wasn’t sure, but he knew Ophelia could manage herself. And he knew he couldn’t let Jim escape with his friend. He looked back at his sister, hoped to God that everything turned out okay, and ran after Jim into the woods.

* * *

“What is all this ruckus?” Mr. Jacques, Hiroki’s history teacher, said. Indeed, that was what everyone was wondering. Suddenly, a stampede of kids all dressed in gym clothes had charged passed the classroom window, screaming and yelping. 

Someone began to stand up, but just as quickly Mr. Jacques yelled, “Sit down, sit down!” He walked over to his desk and began to dial a number on his cell phone. “We’re still in class, so just please remain in your seats while I see what is going on--huh?” 

Someone had begun knocking aggressively on the door, begging him to open it. Hesitantly, he did, and in burst Ophelia. A wave of gasps went through the room. She looked incredibly roughed up. There were scrapes on her calves and knees and dirt on her face. 

“Huh?” Hiroki said. Kids whispering and speculating to each other. Some people started getting on their phones, texting and making calls. 

“Ophelia?” said Mr. Jacques. “What on earth is happening? You look like you’ve been beat up. Ophelia, please, tell me what’s going on.” 

“It’s Jim!” she said. “He--”

“Jim? Is he hurt too? Where is he?” 

“No, no, Jim’s fine…” Ophelia replied. “It’s Cynthia.” 

“Is Cynthia hurt? Is she in the infirmary?” 

“No, no, just...listen. Jim...kidnapped her, basically. He knocked her out and took her into the woods.” 

“Ophelia, what are you saying? Jim wouldn’t do such a thing.” 

“But it happened!” Ophelia insisted. “I saw it. My brother saw it, too.” 

“And where’s your brother?” 

“He ran after them! We have to do something, and I don’t know what.” 

Mr. Jacques took off his glasses, letting out a deep sigh. “We’ll...we’ll have to call the police. And call Cynthia’s parents. But...I just can’t believe it! Jim wouldn’t do such a thing! It’s totally out of character.” 

Ophelia picked her phone out of her pocket and began dialing. “I’ll call her parents,” she announced to everyone. “And...I’ll hope to God this works out.”

* * *

Aelita sat at her kitchen table, home alone. She was relaxing on her couch and watching some dully entertaining daytime talk show when her cell phone began to ring in the kitchen. She rose from the couch and walked over to the kitchen counter to get her phone. Ophelia Della-Robbia was calling her. 

“Why would she be calling me during school?” she thought aloud. “That’s odd…” Still, she picked it up. 

“Hello, Ophelia?” Aelita asked. 

“Oh, Mrs. Belpois, it’s awful! I’m so sorry, oh my gosh, but--”

“Ophelia, are you okay? What’s happening?!” 

“Cynthia--she’s been kidnapped!” 

Aelita suddenly felt the world warp around her. Her heart instantly dropped to her stomach. “What?!” 

“She was kidnapped during gym class, I was right there when it happened.” 

“Ophelia, what happened?” 

“It was Jim! He took her!” 

“Jim? Jim Morales?” Aelita couldn’t believe it. Jim would never hurt a student. 

“Yes, Jim. He knocked her out and took her into the woods.” 

She felt herself unable to speak for what felt like a full minute. She was trying to imagine how this could happen. Something this bad could never happen at Kadic. “...Thank you. I’ll...I’ll come over to the school and call her father. Thank you.” 

Aelita hung up, and she immediately dialed Jeremie. One beep, another…

“Come on, Jeremie, come on,” she plead desperately. 

Still beeping. No voice mail.

“Oh, please, Jeremie! Please, please answer…”

_Hello, this is Jeremie, please leave a--_

She hung up and slammed the phone on the kitchen counter. She heard the glass crack, but the stress overwhelmed every other worry in her life. 

“Jim couldn’t do this.” She tried to console herself. She tried to stop her hands from shaking. “He couldn’t, wouldn’t. But...she saw him. Students saw him. So he did it.” 

She walked out of the kitchen and for a moment paced around the living room. She stopped next to a black dresser. On top of thatdresser, underneath a small red lamp, stood a small black picture frame. And inside the picture frame was a photograph from years ago: a group of five friends, laughing and smiling together inside an elevator in some abandoned factory… 

Aelita didn’t even let herself consider that as an option. That would be jumping to extreme conclusions. That life, that world, that danger was long gone. Aelita was sure of it.

* * *

“Flynn, where are you?” Ophelia asked. 

“I’m, uh… Well, I’m not exactly sure.” 

“What do you mean? Aren’t you in the woods?!” Everyone else in the room was silent. People had called the police plenty of times, Cynthia’s mother had been notified, and now the only thing left to do was for them to wait and hope. Cynthia’s fate was out of their hands.

“I’m uh…” Suddenly, the signal got cut off, and his words became a garbled mess. 

“Oh, God, I’m losing him,” Ophelia said. “Flynn? Flynn? Are you there?” 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m here, sorry.” 

“Oh, okay, thank God. Are you in a tunnel or something?” 

“Well...kind of.” 

“Kind of? What does that mean?” 

“I’m...in the sewers.” 

“The _what_?” 

“Sewers, it’s where all the water and stuff in toilets go--” 

“I know what that is, you dummy, I just--wait, hold on. What?” 

“Ophelia, what’s going on on his end?” Mr. Jacques asked. 

“He’s...in the sewers,” she replied. “Following Jim, I hope, and not taking a detour,” she added directly into the phone.

Again, the signal got messy, and she only heard one word: ladder. 

“What? What ladder? I can’t hear you again.” 

“There’s some ladder at the end of the sewer. I think that’s where he went. I’m climbing up it right now.” 

“Are you sure?”

He didn’t respond for a moment. Ophelia’s heart was racing. Finally, he picked up: “Sorry. I think they went this way.” 

“Where are you now?”

“Uh… I’m on a bridge somewhere… I think this is the abandoned factory, you know where that is?”

“Jim took her there?”

“Like I said, I don’t really know. This is my best guess.” 

Ophelia took a deep breath. “Okay,” she said. “I’m meeting you there. The police are gonna search the campus and the woods. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes, okay?” 

“Okay.” He cut off without a warning, and the call ended.

Ophelia put away her phone, taking a deep breath. Just as she turned to the doorway to leave, Mr. Jacques interjected:

“Ophelia, where are you going? I don’t want anyone out of the teachers’ sight right now.” 

“I’m going to get Flynn,” she said. 

“Where is Flynn?” he asked. 

“He’s at the abandoned factory. I’m his twin sister, I think I should look out for him.” 

“The abandoned factory? How are you going to get there from campus? The police can get him.”

“But the police might not make it in time! I’ll just help him get back to school and make sure he’s safe. Okay?” 

Mr. Jacques was clearly _not_ okay with this, but Ophelia was an immovable, stubborn mule. She could tell he was incredibly stressed and wasn’t sure how to deal with the situation. “Fine,” he conceded. “Just...bring a buddy with you. I don’t want you going alone, at least.” 

“Hiroki,” she said. “Come with me.”

* * *

“Thanks for getting me out of class, I guess,” Hiroki said. They were far from the school building now, walking in the city. They were currently standing at a crosswalk, waiting for traffic to halt. 

“No problem,” Ophelia said. 

“So, uh, where is Flynn?” Hiroki asked.

“He’s at that old abandoned factory. Somehow, he got there from the sewers.” 

“Okay,” he said. “How do we get there?” 

“I guess…” She bit her nail, thinking. “So we take a right here for one block, then another right, and we should see it…” 

“Hey, wait,” Hiroki said. “Did you say factory?” 

“Uh, yeah, why?” Ophelia asked. 

“Well...I dunno, it’s stupid,” he said. “But I just remember when I was little, and like, your parents were over and so were Cynthia’s, and we were downstairs, I would eavesdrop on them sometimes. And I heard about a factory they would go to during high school. But then later when I would, you know, I’d ask my dad and mom about it, they would clam up. I always thought they did like, drugs in the factory as teenagers.” 

Ophelia scoffed. “Our parents are not junkies, Hiroki.” 

“Have you seen your father?” he said. “Total stoner in high school.” 

She shoved him, laughing despite the situation. “I hate that you’re right.”

* * *

_Where am I?_

Cynthia was lying face down. Her body was sore and her mind was foggy. The last thing she could recall was Jim attacking her--and then she had blacked out. Where was he now? Where was _she_ now? And where were Ophelia and Flynn? 

She forced herself to turn her body around, stomach up. Her eyes were open, but saw only a deep, dark blue. Was it night time already? Had she been out that long? She pushed herself up off the floor. She stared straight ahead completely confused. What she saw...did not look real. For one, everything around her was ice. A large, overtowering, blue dome encapsulated Cynthia. That alone was concerning. But what was weirder was the fact that this...this did not look _real_. This did not look like Earth. It looked like some strange, virtual, literally outside-of-this-universe world. Was she dreaming? 

Cynthia looked at her own body, and things only got weirder there. Her arms looked just as virtual and unfamiliar. Her hands weren’t her hands. Her skin wasn’t her skin. And her clothes were entirely different. Instead of her gym clothes, Cynthia was wearing a white dress that went down to her knees. A gold belt was cinched around her waist with a red gem in the center, and on her elbows were matching gold bands. She felt something strapped to her back; she reached back and retrieved a blue staff with a glowing pink orb at its end. 

She stood up. She might as well try finding a way out of this dome, she thought. But her search was quickly halted; there was only one exit out of this dome, and stationed in front of that exit was a grotesque block-like monster, standing eye-to-eye with Cynthia. Maybe eye-to-eye wouldn’t be the correct word, because the thing had no eyes. On each side of its cube head, there was instead a symbol: a circle with two rings around it, and on the outermost ring three rectangles protruded from the bottom and one from the top. 

“H-hello?” Cynthia asked, hoping it would talk to her. The monster stared at her, motionless. If it could see her, that is. No luck for her. 

Cynthia took one step forward, trying to examine the creature more closely. The block monster hissed at her, and its face began glowing blue. The monster launched a blue beam towards and encased her right leg in ice. 

“W-what the?” Cynthia cried. The monster again had no response. Cynthia tried to move, but her leg was stuck in the ice. She tried chipping away at the ice with her newly found staff. The block monster didn’t seem alarmed, doing nothing to stop her. 

Eventually, she freed herself from the monster’s frozen trap. Now she realized there really was no way out of the dome. The monster was guarding the only exit, as if it wanted to keep her here--but why? What did it want from her? Why was it keeping her here--wherever here was? 

She took another step closer to the monster. Maybe she could fend it off with her staff...although a staff wasn’t a very formidable weapon. But maybe--

“AH!” 

The monster began rapid firing at Cynthia, this time not with an ice beam but with laser bullets. Cynthia crouched down, closed her eyes, and held her staff in front of her in a meager attempt to defend herself. She realized none of the bullets had hit her; she opened one eye, and to her amazement, her staff was forming a shield, absorbing the monster’s attacks. Quickly, she jumped back, and the monster again stopped its fire. She stared at it, and the creature stared back at her menacingly. 

* * *

Ophelia and Hiroki had crossed the bridge by now, and both of them could see Flynn standing at the entrance to the factory. It looked even more abandoned and rustic, appearing almost untouched. 

“ _This_ is where Cynthia is?” Ophelia asked her twin.

“I’m sure,” he said. “This is where Jim went.” 

“How sure?” she asked.

“N...not very,” he admitted. “But it’s the best we’ve got.” 

Ophelia was hesitant, but she knew they couldn’t give up on Cynthia. “Fine. Just...let’s not get into too much danger.” 

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Hiroki asked. “We fight Jim? He’s a fossil, his bones will crack if he even tries punching us.” 

“He’s right,” Flynn said. 

“Oh, just get into the factory, you two,” Ophelia ordered. 

The three of them stepped inside. Immediately in front of them was a large jump, with a few black ropes to the side. Either they could climb down, or explore the upper floor of the factory. 

“Should we split up?” Hiroki suggested.

“No,” Flynn said. “This could be dangerous.” 

“I can go alone,” Ophelia said. 

“No,” Flynn insisted again, shaking his head firmly. “I don’t want you hurt, or Hiroki. We should stay together.”

She didn’t seem happy with this. “Please?” he added. “For me?” 

She rolled her eyes. “I’ll do it for Cynthia. Not for you. Let’s--oh?” 

Her phone started ringing. She picked it up. “It’s Cynthia’s mom,” she remarked. She clicked the speaker button, and then said, “Hello?”

“Ophelia, it’s me, Mrs. Belpois. I’m at the school, where are you?” 

“I’m, uh… Well, I left the school.” 

“You left the school?! But you could be in danger, Ophelia!”

“Flynn went after Jim when he kidnapped Cynthia,” Ophelia explained. “And then I went to help him.” 

“I don’t want you kids getting hurt, dear… Oh, where are you?” 

“We’re at, uh, the abandoned factory.”

“The abandoned factory? Across the bridge?” 

“Yeah, that one. Why?” 

“I’m… Well, never mind, it’s nothing. Just...be safe!” She hung up on Ophelia. 

“That was weird,” she said. 

“It’s whatever,” Flynn said. “I say we go down.” 

“Down the ropes?” Hiroki asked. He seemed a little nervous. 

“We just have to climb down...slowly,” Flynn told him. “It’ll be okay.” 

“Er...okay…” he said, without a shred of confidence in him. 

Hiroki stood there, waiting for someone else to take the first rope. Ophelia shook her head. “Am I the only with some balls here?” she asked. She stepped towards the edge, grabbed the rope, and quickly slid down. 

She shouted from the bottom of the factory, “See? No harm! Come on!”

Hiroki looked at Flynn; he was shaking and hardly able to move himself towards the edge. “For Cynthia,” he whispered to himself. “That’s why I’m doing this… Er, Hiroki, you first.” 

“Uh, I’ll wait,” Hiroki responded. 

“Just do it together, please!” Ophelia shouted. 

They looked at each other; they knew they probably wouldn’t have a better choice. 

“On the count of three,” Flynn said.

“One…” Hiroki counted. “Two…”

“Three!” 

They both jumped off, grasped onto the ropes blindly, holding on for dear life. They slowly descended to the floor, and the tips of their shoes lightly tapped onto the factory’s floor. 

“O-okay,” Hiroki said, getting off of the rope. “Where now?” 

“There’s an elevator over there,” Flynn pointed out. “But I dunno if it works…” 

“Well, let’s try it out,” Ophelia said. She dragged them over both into the elevator. There were two buttons, with no other indication of the controls. Ophelia pressed the first one. Then, a shuttle door came from above, closing off the elevator, and suddenly they were going down. 

“D-do you think this thing still works?” Hiroki asked. 

“It’s working right now,” Ophelia replied. “It’ll be fine, Hiroki.”

“I-I know! I’m just...nervous. What if we get in trouble with our parents?” 

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” she said, definitely not certain. 

Suddenly, the elevator came to a stop. The shuttle door rose up, revealing another door blocking their way. This one was made of metal, much sturdier. The door parted into two and opened up. 

“Whoa,” Flynn said. 

“What _is_ this?” Ophelia wondered, amazed. 

The elevator had taken them to a large computer laboratory. A large, dusty but still advanced and powerful-looking computer. In front of the computer was a hologram, which currently displayed...something. In the middle of the hologram was a glowing sphere, and jetting out from the sphere were four archipelago land masses, forming the shape of a cross. 

Flynn walked up to examine the computer. “Whoa! Look at this.” 

Ophelia walked up behind him. “Whoa…” On the computer screen were a bunch of open windows with text moving and running, as if someone else was typing it. One window displayed what appeared to be a map. 

“What does that all mean?” Hiroki asked. “Flynn, you’re good with computers and stuff, right?”

“I’m _interested_ in programming,” he corrected him. “I have no idea how to handle this.” 

“There’s a headset here,” Ophelia pointed out, picking it up from its resting spot on top of the keyboard. “Does it work?”

“Let’s find out.” Flynn put it on his head, and he said, “Hello?” 

“Who is that?” said a voice coming through. 

“Did someone just talk?” Ophelia asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” said Flynn, trying not to panic. “This, um, this is, Flynn, Flynn Della--”

“ _Flynn_! Oh my God, thank goodness you’re here.” 

“Cynthia?!” he exclaimed. Both Ophelia and Hiroki jumped in excitement and leaned in closely. 

“Yes, it’s me, it’s Cynthia.” 

“Where are you?!” 

“I… I don’t know. I’m in some...virtual world.”

“What?” Flynn asked. “Cynthia, what do you mean?” 

“I can hardly explain it, Flynn. I just… I woke up here, in this weird-looking world. And there’s a monster, and I’m trapped here, and I need help!”

He looked at the others. “What do we do? I don’t know what to do.” His hands were shaking over the keyboard. 

Ophelia kept calm. She cursorily scanned the room and spotted an open hatch. “Hm… I’ll explore the factory and try to find something. Hiroki, come with me. Flynn, keep an eye on Cynthia.” 

Ophelia climbed down the ladder hatch first, and Hiroki followed her, though very hesitantly. They climbed down into a dark room, lit only by the light that came through from above. Ophelia looked around: there were three tall metal tubes in the center of the room, with a bunch of thick wires attached to each of them. 

“Flynn!” she yelled. “We found...something.” 

“What?” he asked from above. 

“Some...tube things. I don’t know what they are, though.” 

In unison, the doors of the tubes suddenly opened up, and the bright white light inside of them instantly illuminated the whole room.

“Uh… Flynn, they just opened up. What do I do?” 

On the upper floor, Flynn was wrassling his hair and biting his nails, unsure of how to navigate this mammoth of a computer. But suddenly, like it came from heaven above, a window popped up on his screen, with nothing but the words: 

ENTER THE SCANNERS.

“Uh...I think they’re scanners, Ophelia!” he yelled back. 

“What? What the hell does that mean?” she asked. 

“I don’t really know. But the computer says to enter them. I think that’s what you two should do.” 

“A-are you sure?” squeaked Hiroki. “It could be dangerous.” 

“No, I’m not sure… But maybe this has something to do with Cynthia.” 

Ophelia stepped into the closest scanner first. “Coming, Hiroki?” she teased. 

“O-okay, fine,” he said. He stepped into a second one. For a moment they both stood there. “What now?” he asked. 

Another window popped up: 

TRANSFER. SCAN. VIRTUALIZE. 

And then, a third window appeared, giving what appeared to be instructions of the procedure. Flynn stared at the text for a moment. The computer told him which key to press step-by-step in order to complete the process, whatever it was. How could this computer instruct him like it was its own being, though?

“Hold on,” he said, typing up the keys in order as carefully as he could. 

Suddenly, on the lower floor, the doors to all three scanners closed. “W-what?!” screamed Ophelia. “Flynn, the scanner just closed on us. What’s happening?” 

But Flynn couldn’t hear her voice, muffled behind the scanner door now. He kept typing, and then he performed the last step: press the Enter key. Simple as that. As soon as he did, two icons resembling cartoon characters appeared on screen. Two new symbols popped up on the map behind Cynthia and the monster. 

* * *

“What is going on?” he whispered to himself.

“Flynn? What’s happening?” Cynthia asked. 

“I’m not sure,” he said. “The computer kind of told me what to do.”

“What did you do?”

“I think I sent help,” he said. “Or that’s what I tried to do.” 

“I don’t see anything, Flynn.” 

Cynthia had spoken too soon. She heard a strange noise above her head, and she looked up: two figures were being materialized pixel by pixel. One was dressed like a ninja assassin. Three spikes adorned each of his shoulders, a large curved blade was on both of his forearms. Six sheathed daggers were attached to his belt. He also donned a large black scarf which formed a mask covering his lower face, so that all you could see were his nose, eyes, and black hair. The other figure looked like a dark mage straight from a video game. She was dressed in an intricate dark green robe, with a large emerald gem infixed as the centerpiece on her chest. A smaller gem was infixed on her forehead. She also had two large black wings that reached down to her knees. As the two of them finished materializing into the world, they fell down to the ground, and Cynthia recognized them as her friends. 

“Oh, thank God for both of you!” she exclaimed. They were both dazed and startled, having made a rough landing. 

“Where are we?” Ophelia wondered.

“It’s some virtual world, I think,” Cynthia said. “I have no idea what this really is.” 

“I think the scanners are sort of the gateway to this world,” said Flynn’s voice. 

“What am I wearing?” Ophelia asked, examining her own body for the first time. “Are those wings?” 

“And I’m, like, a ninja!” exclaimed Hiroki. “Cool.” 

“I appreciate your enthusiasm, but this isn’t the time to play,” scolded Cynthia. “Look.” She pointed to the block monster trapping all three of them. 

“What is that?” Hiroki asked.

“That’s the monster that’s kept me trapped. We need to get rid of it if we want to get out.” 

“It seems friendly,” he remarked. “It’s not being hostile.” 

“How can we get rid of it?” 

“You have weapons, don’t you?” She pointed to the many daggers attached to his waist. 

“Whoa.” Hiroki unsheated one of them, closely examining them. “It’s a throwing dagger.” 

“And I think our new friend realizes the danger,” Ophelia warned, pointing at the block as it scuttled towards them. “because he’s coming closer!” 

“Hiroki, quick!” Cynthia yelled. 

Hiroki threw his first dagger at the monster, but the monster easily deflected the dagger simply by spinning its head.

“I don’t like this…” Hiroki said, backing away. 

“What do I even have?!” complained Ophelia. Despite her grand appearance, there were no weapons on her body. And she needed an answer quick, because the monster had picked up on her vulnerability and decided to choose her as its first victim. 

“Stay away from me, you freak!” she ordered. But the monster didn’t listen. It didn’t care. It stood in front of her and began charging up an attack. Desperately, Ophelia held out her hands, trying to block it--only for multiple bullets of white energy to shoot from her hand, instantly destroying the monster. 

“Whoa…” Ophelia said. “I guess... I do have something.” 

“Is it gone?” Flynn asked. “I can’t tell what’s happening from here.” 

“It’s gone,” Cynthia said. “Ophelia destroyed it with some...energy bullet things.” 

Ophelia examined her hand like she had never seen it before. “That was weird.” 

“We don’t have time to be amazed right now. Let’s get out of here, can we?” She gestured towards the open exit out of the dome, and the two followed her into the cave.

* * *

Aelita stormed into the principal’s office, stomping past a herd of concerned students and a crowd of equally concerned teachers trying to calm them down. She eyed the secretary, who appeared indignant that Aelita burst into the room unannounced. “Where is Principal Dunbar?” she asked her. 

The secretary positioned her glasses before answering. “Principal Dunbar is actually out today. May I--” 

“Okay, maybe you’ll know,” she said. “I was told my daughter has been kidnapped by the gym teacher, and yet the school never tried to contact me. Can you explain why I had to hear this news from a student?” 

The secretary--Aelita eyed her name on the plaque: Ms. Valentine--had a frightened look on her face. “Mrs. Belpois, I apologize deeply,” she said. “We’ve been just as concerned. We contacted the police, and in the frenzy we forgot to contact you as well.”

“Hmph.” She folded her arms together--she didn’t have the time to be too angry at Kadic. “Do they have any leads?” 

“Not yet,” he answered. “but I assure you both the school and the police are doing their best to find your daughter.” 

“Has Principal Dunbar been contacted?” 

Ms. Valentine hesitated. “We’ve tried in the past hour, but he hasn’t been answering his phone. Would you, er, like to leave a message?

For a moment, something sat on the tip of Aelita’s tongue.  _ Tell him it's about the factory _ . But she told herself no. Not William. She couldn’t trust him. 

The others… She could absolutely trust them, all four of them, but there was an awful feeling in her stomach. She didn’t want to reawaken that beast. She didn’t want to drag them into this mess again. Always, always when it came to Lyoko, she had ruined things, and people always had to make immense sacrifices for her.

“Ma’am?” 

She snapped out of her daze. “Sorry,” she said. “Uh, no, I wouldn’t, thank you.” 

“Alright. On a personal note, I hope everything turns out well with your daughter, Mrs. Belpois.” 

“Thank you,” she blurted out, her voice shaking. She turned away, hiding her face, and she quietly exited the room. 

She stopped in the hallway of the principal’s wing of the building and checked her phone. Nothing from Jeremy. Multiple calls made to him, four and counting, last one less than an hour ago. She knew he was at work, but could he really not check his phone for a minute? 

She tapped into the contacts list. Yumi, Ulrich… They were both at work, she didn’t want to bother them too. Odd… He would be at home, but he lived so far away, how could he help? Just for once, Aelita wanted to handle things herself. She was tired of being the damsel in distress. 

She walked through the door and outside. She excused herself through the large crowd of students and faculty, hearing some say her name and ignoring them still. She walked onto the street, and turned right. Aelita took a deep breath.

Everything always led her back here, somehow. 

* * *

“Okay, Flynn,” Ophelia said. “We’re out of the cave now.” 

“What do you see?” 

“Um...it’s still all ice out here,” Hiroki said.

“And there’s this big, tall, white tower,” added Cynthia. “And there’s, like, some creepy, red aura around it.” 

“Um… Go near it, see what you can find,” Flynn suggested. “Maybe it could be a way out.” 

“Maybe so,” Ophelia said. “but I think we’ve got company again.”

As if they had been conjured out of thin air, two more monsters appeared from behind the tower. Two tall monsters with long legs and a thin, shell-like red body. 

“These look tougher than the blocks we had,” Ophelia said. 

“Get rid of the monsters, and then go to the tower!” Flynn said. 

“On it.” The red monsters already started firing; their lasers weren’t anywhere near the three of them, but it seemed the monsters’ goal was to prevent them from reaching the tower. 

“The tower must be important,” Cynthia said. “if they don’t want us near it.” 

Ophelia stepped in front of Hiroki and Cynthia, forming a plan. She looked back at her wings. “Hm…” 

She took a few steps back, and then she burst into a sprint. Cynthia yelled at her to come back, but Ophelia paid no heed to that. She jumped into the air, her black wings spread out, and suddenly she was _flying_. She did a loopdeloop and then came back to the ground. 

“Whoa,” said Hiroki, amazed. “How did you--” 

“Instinct,” she said. “But I have a plan. Listen closely…”

* * *

Aelita was walking along the sidewalk. She was feeling more confident with each step she took. She had fought XANA so many times--just rarely by herself By now, the bridge to the factory was within sight. She had avoided even looking at it ever since she was a teenager and had last returned from Lyoko. But now, things just weren’t adding up, something just wasn’t right. And when things felt wrong in Aelita’s life, she always knew who the man behind the curtain was. 

She kept her head low. She didn’t want to be suspicious. There were people everywhere, eyes everywhere, footsteps everywhere. 

Footsteps…

The soft, gently repeating sound of a _tap, tap, tap_ against the concrete sidewalk…

Aelita turned around. 

“Jim.” 

But it wasn’t Jim. In his eyes was the insignia Aelita had thought she would only encounter in her nightmares, but it had come back against all odds. 

“No,” she said. “This can’t be happening. Jim, wake up! Jim!” 

Jim growled like an animal, and he lunged at her. Aelita swerved to the right, and in the process she almost fell into the street. A passing car barely moved out of the way, honking at her. Aelita looked at Jim, and then she looked at the factory. She could maybe outrun him… But where would she hide in the factory? She couldn’t go back to Lyoko, she wouldn’t. And yet someone had to deactivate the tower. Aelita couldn’t stay and fight with Jim--could she? Would Xana attack her in broad daylight, in the public’s eye?

The answer, she soon found, was yes. 

Jim jumped up, and launched a stream of electricity at her. Aelita dodged it, screaming for help. Jim growled and hissed and lunged again. Aelita knew she couldn’t do this forever.

“ _Help me!_ ”

* * *

“Ready, Hiroki?”

“Ready when you are.” There was some confidence in him now. 

“Okay… _Go!_ ” 

Ophelia flew up into the air again, immediately displeasing the red monsters. They turned their attention to her and fired away. Ophelia was flying confidently, though, and as she swerved and spun through the air she managed to dodge their bullets. 

“She’s a natural,” remarked Hiroki.

“Hiroki, go!” Ophelia said.

“Oh, yeah,” he said. By now, Ophelia had turned the monsters so that their backs were facing Cynthia and Hiroki, which was exactly what they wanted. Hiroki unsheated two of his daggers, and he ran towards the monsters as stealthily as he could. 

Hiroki jumped onto the left monster. It groaned in concern, but still didn’t know what was happening. He noticed that this monster had the same symbol as the block one did. He threw both of his daggers into the center of the insignia. He pumped his fist in the air, and Ophelia congratulated him from the air, but they were celebrating too soon; the other monster had noticed Hiroki, and hit with two laser blasts. Hiroki fell off the other monster just as it exploded, and Hiroki’s own body began to disintegrate into pixels.

“Hiroki!” exclaimed Cynthia. “Flynn, Hiroki just...died!” 

“What?! I’ll go check the scanners, but destroy that last monster!” 

Ophelia decided she was done playing, and so she landed on top of the remaining one, launched multiple energy bullets into it, and flew off just as it exploded. 

“It’s handled,” she said to Cynthia as she landed on the ground. “Let’s go to the tower.” 

* * *

Jim was relentless in his pursuit, shooting electricity at Aelita and tearing up the concrete of the sidewalk. Aelita was beginning to feel out of breath. XANA was out for blood, it seemed--but why? Aelita couldn’t find any reasonable answer. Too much was making no sense; for starters, how was XANA alive and well? 

“What do you want from me?!” she asked. Jim gave her no answer except an animalistic growl. He held his hand towards her. 

“P-please, no…” she begged.

* * *

Cynthia and Ophelia had entered the base of the tower now. The floor was in the same shape as that ominous insignia. The walls of the tower were decorated with what looked like digital data files. Both the walls and the floor illuminated the tower with a deep blue glow. 

“There’s a platform up there,” Ophelia said, pointing up. “It looks just like this one. But how do we get up there?” 

Cynthia walked towards the center of the tower, gazing up. “Maybe we could--oh!” 

Suddenly, her body rose upward on its own. Ophelia gasped, but didn’t know what to do--she could fly after Cynthia, but she wasn’t sure where the tower would take her. She simply observed as Cynthia’s body gently landed on top of the upper platform. 

In front of Cynthia was a hovering holographic screen at the center of the platform… She cautiously approached it and placed her hand on it.

* * *

Lightning shot out from the tips of Jim’s fingers. Aelita had exhausted herself from dodging his attacks. She screeched for help as she felt the electricity surge through her body. She lost all control of her muscles and felt herself go limp. All she could see was the pure evil in Jim’s eyes, the malicious glee from her pain. 

Aelita scolded herself. She should’ve asked for help. She should’ve called one of her friends, or the police, she should’ve asked _William_ for crying out loud. But she should never have tried saving the world by herself.

* * *

One word appeared on the screen: CYNTHIA.

“What…?” Cynthia said, removing her hand from the screen. “How does it..?” 

Two more words followed: CODE LYOKO.

The tower went completely dark. The data files quickly sank down the walls. Only the light of the platform allowed Cynthia to see. 

“Flynn? What happened?” 

“I’m here, I’m here,” he said. 

“Is Hiroki okay?” 

“Yeah, he came out of the scanner fine, it seems. There’s something weird on my screen now…”

* * *

Suddenly, Aelita dropped to the floor, barely conscious. Jim dropped likewise. She heard a car tire screeching, and then a door open. 

“Ma’am, ma’am,” said a man. “Are you okay?” 

“Huh?” said Jim. He was suddenly awake. “Wh-wh-wha? What happened? Who are y--Aelita?”

* * *

“It says… ‘Press Enter to return to the past.’” Flynn said. “Return to the past? I...I don’t know. What does that mean?” 

“It’s been right so far,” Ophelia said. “I think you should press it.”

* * *

“Aelita? Are you okay?” 

“XANA…” she croaked. 

“What did you say? Aelita, it’s me, Jim. What are you doing here? What am I doing here? I feel like I...I blacked out.” 

“Ma’am,” said the man. “Do you need to go the hospital?” 

“Aelita,” said Jim. “Do you know what happened?”

* * *

Flynn pressed the Enter key. In an instant, a white light emerged from the holograph in the center of the room, and suddenly the whole world turned white with it…

* * *

“XANA,” Aelita whispered to Jim. 

“W-wha?” Jim said. “What does that mean--” 

The white light swallowed them all.

* * *

Aelita woke up to the sound of her alarm, set at 6:10 a.m. She quickly turned it off. She sat up straight, feeling wide awake yet somehow exhausted. She checked the date on her alarm clock: August 20th. It was Cynthia’s first day of school. But Aelita wasn’t worried about that. There was something else on her mind. She had the strangest feeling--as if she had already lived this day. It was an odd, yet totally familiar feeling. 

“Jeremie,” she said. “Jeremie, wake up.” 

“W-what is it?” he asked groggily. 

“I had an awful dream, Jeremie.” 

He got up, put on his glasses, and turned on the closest lamp. “Well, what happened?”

Aelita hesitated. She felt like she sounded ridiculous reciting what just happened--it could never actually happen. “Cynthia was kidnapped. And she was kidnapped by XANA, who possessed Jim, who tortured me and almost killed me, and…”

“And what?” 

She wanted to say she didn’t think it was a dream, but that sounded silly even to her. “It was just...an awful nightmare.” 

“Well, you know it’s just that. A nightmare.” 

“Right…” 

She stepped out of bed, and she told herself: it’s okay. She was in the real world. A world without danger. A world without Xana. 

  
  



	2. A Teenage Experience Like Mine

It was August 20th. The digital clock above the stove read 1:03 p.m. Cynthia was still at school, Jeremy was still at work, and Aelita was still at home, alone. Everything was fine. 

Throughout the whole day, Aelita kept attempting to convince herself her dream had been nothing but a dream. XANA was gone for good. That was for certain. Aelita and the rest of her friends had vanquished him more than two decades ago. There was no way XANA could revive himself and possess Jim the way he did in her dream. Yet what kept Aelita suspicious with doubt was how detailed the dream was. She could remember every moment, every hour of the dream. It was around this time that she received the first call from Ophelia. She could recall precisely the instant, stomach-dropping dread that surged through her when she heard the news. 

She needed to vent to someone. Jeremy kept telling her it was impossible for XANA to bring himself back from the dead. Aelita knew he was being sensible. But the paranoia kept gnawing at her brain nonetheless, and she needed someone to vent to, someone who would at least consider the possibility. Two hours ago, she had called Yumi, asking her to come to her house some time today for a talk--she hadn’t specific about what. Yumi was able to come, but she wasn’t able to stay for long. Aelita appreciated however much time she could get. 

Just then, Aelita heard a knock at the door. She saw Yumi’s blurred face through the window pane and quickly paced over to the entrance to greet her. She opened the door, and immediately Yumi embraced her in a hug. 

“Hi, Aelita,” Yumi said. “It’s great to see you. How are you?”

“I’m good,” she said. “Well, actually, I’ve been better.” 

“What’d you want to talk about?” 

“Could you come in? It’s a little complicated.” 

Yumi stepped into the house and sat down on the couch. “I’ve got less than ten minutes. This is technically my extended lunch break, and I can’t have the boss mad at me. What’s wrong?” 

Aelita sat on the living chair opposite Yumi. “Um… Sorry. Just thinking about it makes me feel like I’m losing it.” 

“Aelita, you can trust me,” Yumi assured her. She grabbed her hand. When Aelita looked up, she saw the sincerity in Yumi’s eyes. “We’re best friends. I’ve literally risked my life for you so many times.” 

“Okay…” Aelita said. “I had a dream--well, a nightmare really--about XANA. He had come back, somehow, and he had possessed Jim and kidnapped Cynthia. And then I ran into XANA at the factory, and he tortured me. Everything about it...the pain, the fear, it all felt so real. And at the very end of the dream, everything turned white, just like…”

“A return to the past,” Yumi said. Aelita nodded. “That sounds like a pretty intense dream.” 

“It really was. And I told Jeremy about it, and he told me dreams are just dreams. I know he’s probably right. But a part of me is worried, that maybe something’s wrong.” 

“Like it wasn’t a dream?” Yumi asked. “That XANA is alive again?”

She nodded. Yumi moved over to sit next to Aelita. “Listen--we won’t let that happen. The chances of that happening are slim to none. And if it did, we can take him down again.”

“Can we?” 

“We already did.” She kissed her on the forehead. “I have to go, my lunch break is only so long. If you need me, just text me, okay?”

The door shut behind her. 

* * *

Hiroki was having the strangest day. After Cynthia had deactivated the tower, Hiroki remembered that Flynn had pressed a button, and immediately afterwards everything became white. A moment later, and Hiroki was sitting in first period, listening to his Spanish teacher take attendance. Hiroki was wearing the same clothes he had worn that morning, and he realized everyone else around him was as well. It didn’t take him long to figure things out. When the computer had said “return to the past,” its meaning couldn’t have been any more literal. Somehow, that computer had sent them back in time. Hiroki had no time to question the complexity of that idea, though. He wasn’t going to see or talk to any of his friends until lunch.

The time travel was a blessing and a curse. Hiroki went through the same motions and the same classes. He remembered everything they had gone through, so he didn’t have to pay any attention. But that made the classes even more dreadfully boring. He remembered the jokes his teachers would crack, the questions other teachers would ask. It was kind of weird that Hiroki could just predict entire conversations before they could happen. 

When the bell rang at the end of Mrs. Shu’s class, Hiroki tried to hustle to the door before she could pull him aside for a talk--somehow, she managed to stop him nonetheless. Hiroki was more prepared this time with satisfactory answers. He had told her he was ready to focus on school this semester and that he also was interested in joining various clubs to give him some sort of purpose outside of academics. Mrs. Shu had been impressed at his dedication--if only she knew. 

Once she set him free, Hiroki sprinted to the cafeteria. He was there now, and he spotted the three of his friends sitting at a table. He ran over to them, not even bothering to get food. 

“Hey, Hiroki,” Ophelia said. 

“Hi, guys,” he said, sliding in next to Flynn. “I have been dying to talk to you guys all day.” 

“Really?” Flynn asked. “Were classes that bad?”

Hiroki looked at Flynn, thinking he was joking. His face was sincere. “No--I mean, they were boring, but that’s not it. The whole...virtual world thing.” 

Suddenly, both Ophelia and Cynthia shot him dirty looks like he had said something he shouldn’t have. Flynn scoffed at him and rolled his eyes.

“What?” Hiroki asked. 

“Are you for real doing this too?” Flynn asked. “These two were going on about that all morning. If you guys are like, pranking me, or gaslighting me, it’s not gonna work.” 

“Flynn...what?” Hiroki said. “Are  _ you  _ pranking  _ me _ ? I thought we all--” 

“Hiroki, please, just drop it. It’s hardly funny.” 

“I’m not joking, Flynn! I wouldn’t lie to you. Neither would Cynthia, or your sister.” 

“Ophelia lies to me all the time! She convinced me that I was adopted!” 

“Okay, let’s drop it,” Ophelia said, standing up. “Hiroki, do you wanna get lunch with me? I haven’t eaten yet.” Hiroki nodded, rising from his chair. Ophelia added as they walked away, “And Flynn, it’s your fault for believing that when you know we’re twins.” 

As soon as they were a respectable distance away, Hiroki whispered to her, “What was that all about?” 

“I’m not sure,” she said, stepping in line and picking up a tray. “He has no memory of the factory, the virtual world, or of anything. I thought he was messing with me this morning.” 

“That doesn’t make sense,” Hiroki said. “I mean, you and Cynthia and I all remember, right?” She nodded. “Why wouldn’t Flynn remember?”

The lunchlady slapped down a piece of chicken with a side of mashed potatoes onto Ophelia’s plate. “I don’t know,” Ophelia said, moving out of line now. “I was talking about this with Cynthia earlier, and we--well, she came up with a theory. All three of us went into the virtual world, but Flynn never did.”

“Hm,” said Hiroki. “That makes sense, I think. Maybe the time travel stuff almost, like, wipes out everyone’s memories unless you’ve...I dunno, I’m not sure how computers work. But do we have to, like, virtualize him to make him immune to the memory wipe?” 

Ophelia shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. I’m not sure if I want us to go back to that virtual place. I mean, who knows how dangerous it is?” 

“That’s true,” Hiroki said. They made their way back to the table, ending the conversation. For a moment, the four of them silently ate their food in an awkward lull, until Hiroki’s sister came to the table. She made the same approach she had last time: placing her hands around Hiroki’s eyes to annoy him. 

He said the same thing he had last time: “What do you want, Viktoria?”

Viktoria, unsurprisingly, gave him the same response: “Wow, hello to you, too. I just wanted to say hi to my brother. Who I’m related to.” 

“Hi,” he said. 

“There we go. How are classes?” 

“Boring. Just going through stuff I already know.” 

“Wow, smart guy over here.” She looked over at the other three. Their faces were downcast and zombie-like. “You guys look dead. Did someone, like, die?” 

“School’s hard to get used to,” Cynthia said. 

“I get it. Sophomore year was a toughie. You guys are all smarties. I’m sure you’ll get through it.” 

Flynn stood up with his half-full tray. “I think I’m gonna go get my books for class.” He quickly walked over to the trash can, not even offering a see ya. 

Ophelia looked over at Cynthia. “We should probably go,” she whispered. Cynthia nodded. The two of them stood up in sync. “See you guys,” she said to Hiroki and Viktoria. She and Cynthia quickly made their way to the exit. 

“That was weird,” Viktoria remarked. “Are they okay? They’re all in weird moods.” 

“Probably,” he answered. “I dunno.” 

Viktoria shrugged. “How about you? You okay? Feeling lonely?”

“No,” he said, and that was a surprise to him that he hadn’t realized. Things felt better than they had yester-today. 

“Well, good. Lemme know if anything’s wrong, okay, dude?” 

He nodded. “You got it, sis.” 

* * *

Flynn walked up the flight of stairs and entered the boys’ floor of the dormitory. He wasn’t hungry, and he wasn’t in the mood to chat with his friends. He wasn’t mad at them--he didn’t think his friends would take a joke this far, but why hadn’t they dropped it yet? He was just...concerned. And dazzled. And...a lot of other things. So much so, that he didn’t see where he was walking, and he ran right into someone, both of them falling onto the floor. 

He looked at the guy he had just bumped into. He looked like he had jumped out of a magazine. He had brown hair with that quiff hairstyle that those types of guys did, and he had an  _ incredibly _ defined jaw as well. How was he only in high school looking like this? Flynn realized he was just staring at him, totally speechless.

“Oh, sorry,” Flynn said. 

“Nah, it’s fine.” The dude stood up and reached out his hand to Flynn, which he gladly accepted. 

“What’s your name?” he asked. 

“Flynn,” he said. “Della-Robbia. Flynn Della-Robbia. Um, you?” 

“Derek Schaeffer.” For a moment there was just awkward silence. Derek smiled at him. Flynn had to look away. “Nice meeting you.” 

Flynn was about to respond when he heard the door fly open behind him. And who he saw couldn’t have been worse nor have worse timing: Daniel Dunbar. He sneered and said little but: “Pft, nice, Flynn.” 

“Shut up, Daniel.” He walked away and stormed into his room, slamming the door behind him. It was the first week of school and he couldn’t imagine it being it any worse. 

* * *

“Okay, bye,” Hiroki said, waving to Ophelia and Cynthia. Flynn was in his room, sulking yet again. “See ya tomorrow!” 

“Hi, mom,” he said as he stepped into the car. 

“How was your first day of school?” his mom asked, starting up the car.

“It was fine.” 

“Did you make any friends?” she asked. 

“Well, no,” he answered. “It’s only the first day.” 

“Well, who’d you hang out with?” 

“Well, my usual friends. You know, the twins, Cynthia, those people.” 

“I thought they weren’t in your class,” his mom said. 

“They’re not,” he replied.

Hiroki’s mother turned around. “So who are you hanging out with when you’re in your own class?” she asked concernedly.

He shrugged. “No one.” 

“Hiroki,” she said. “I don’t want you to rely too much on them. They’re great friends, but why not expand? Make more friends?” 

“Mom, I don’t really have time to make friends in class. I have to, like, focus in class. Also, you told me you didn’t have any friends when you were in high school.” 

“Okay, first of all, I  _ initially _ didn’t have any friends,” she corrected him. 

“Who says that’s not the case for me? I’m just taking it slow and steady.” 

“Hiroki, please.” She seemed frustrated with him. “Second of all, I don’t want you to have a teenage experience like mine!” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked curiously. It seemed like there was a deeper meaning to that statement. Maybe his mom was a druggie, just like Mr. Della Robbia. They always hung out at some abandoned factory--why would five teenagers hang out in a factory? He kept wondering if it was the very same factory as the virtual world. 

“It--it’s nothing.” His mother turned back around. 

Viktoria entered the car, taking the front seat, and pushed her backpack into the seat next to Hiroki. “Hey, mom. Hi, Hiroki” 

“Hi, Viktoria. Are we all set?” 

“Mhm,” they both said. 

Hiroki stared out the window as his mother drove through the city, staring at the different shades of grey walls. So what about friends? He was fine with his own crew right now. There was trouble with Flynn right now, but he knew they would clear things up. They’d had worse disputes. 

He felt his phone vibrating in his lap. He looked down to see a text message from Ophelia: “i’m still really freaking out about like...the factory and flynn and everything!!”

He unlocked his phone and typed: “Same.”

Less than a minute later: “what if another person gets possessed like Jim did??? would we go the factory?? but what about flynn??? it’s so complicated ugh”

“I don’t know. Maybe we’d just have to drag him there and then put him in the scanner” 

“hm maybe idk.”

Less than half a minute after her previous text: “okay you know the whole thing about our parents and the factory you mentioned yesterday??? i know it makes like no sense and it’s not likely but what if like that is the factory like i doubt they did what we’re doing but still” 

“I don’t know. Have you asked yours?” 

“i want to but it’s a weird thing to ask over text. plus they might get suspicious. i dont want them to know about the factory. they might make us stay away from it and like i see the point but theres something going on here and i wanna find out myself” 

“Yeah same. I’ll ask my mom.” 

“Hey, mom,” Hiroki piped up. “I have a question.” 

“Hm?”

“You know that factory you and the Della-Robbia’s and the Belpois’s talk about? What exactly did you guys do?” 

“A factory?” she asked, like she hadn’t heard the word before.

“Yeah, I’ve heard you guys talk about it.”

“First of all Hiroki, it’s rude to eavesdrop. And second of all… We just hung out there. And in case you were thinking it, it wasn’t anything illegal, like drugs.” 

“Okay, cool,” he said. Quickly, he relayed the information to Ophelia: “She said they just hung out there and that’s all.” 

Instantly: “cool. so she didn’t say where?” 

“No.”

“darn. well i doubt that’s it. i’m gonna look for factories in the city online tho maybe it could’ve gotten demolished in the years that passed.” 

Hiroki put his phone away into his pocket. Could it mean anything? Maybe it was all just a coincidence--maybe their parents hung out in the factory without ever discovering the virtual world. Maybe the virtual world hadn't been created until after they left high school. The image of their parents fighting in that digital world was a ridiculous one--there was no way it could be true. That was what Hiroki told himself. 

* * *

It was 10 p.m. Flynn knew he ought to go to bed. He had school tomorrow, he couldn’t stay up too late. It was the first day of school, too--he had no reason to stay up late. His roommate was already asleep. But there were too many things swimming around in his mind. The whole virtual world shenanigans was one thing--but honestly, he was too distracted to worry about that. 

He kept thinking about that guy he ran into in the hallway. He couldn’t stop thinking about him. Which he knew was stupid--but Flynn acted this way with every new, attractive guy he interacted with. For a few days or maybe a week, he would fiddle with the idea of the guy--wondering if he was gay, if he could tell that Flynn was gay, and what they would be like together. He knew it was stupid and hopelessly romantic, yet he could never stop himself. 

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He dug it out: a text, from an unknown number. It said: “Hey. Do you wanna hang out sometime?”

Flynn texted back: “Who is this?” 

An instant response: “Derek.” 

“Oh okay cool. How’d you get my number tho?” 

Again, instant: “Asked around. I wanted it because you seemed to be cool.” 

Flynn’s face suddenly became hot. Must be because it’s summer. “Oh okay. When do you wanna meet?” 

Again, an instant response. 

“This guy is unhumanly fast,” remarked Flynn.

The response read: “Tomorrow night, behind the science building. Is that okay?” 

Flynn responded without thinking: “Yeah. I’ll be there” 

* * *

“Good night, Hiroki,” Yumi said. 

“Good night,” he groaned back groggily. Yumi shut the door, yawned as quietly as she could, and softly descended down the stairs. 

Ulrich stood at the sink, draining down a cup of water. He was tired from a long day of work. “They’re all asleep?” he asked.

She nodded. Yumi sat down at the kitchen table, and instantly her husband said: “Something wrong, Yumi?” 

She shook her head. “Nothing.” 

“Oh, come on, I know you too well,” he said. He pulled up a chair next to her and sat down, nudging her shoulder. “Come on, babe, tell me.” 

Ulrich always knew when something was up. Of course there was something wrong. Between her talk with Aelita at noon, and Hiroki’s questioning… Aelita wasn’t the only one getting paranoid. Yumi was starting to wonder if Aelita’s suspicions of XANA’s revival were true, as impossible as they sounded. 

“Today, Hiroki asked about the factory,” she admitted. She decided to omit the part about Aelita. Ulrich didn’t need to know everything just yet. 

“Is that what’s getting you worked up?” Ulrich asked. “Honey, it’s no big deal. Why’d he ask about that? How does he even know?” 

Yumi shrugged. “I’m not even sure. He said he’s overheard us talking about it, which makes sense. I mean, he’s always asked these random personal questions, just out of the blue. I remember when he was six he asked us if we loved anyone else before we met each other.” She laughed, and Ulrich laughed with her. 

“He was a nosy kid,” Ulrich said. “It’s nothing to worry about, okay?” 

She shook her head, agreeing with him. “I know… I just, you know, I’ve said I don’t want that part of our life coming to surface with them. It’s hard to explain, but--” 

“I understand.” He embraced her warmly, and she didn’t try to escape from it. He used to be awkward about this kind of stuff, back when they first met. He didn’t know how to handle his emotions or to navigate intimacy. Now there was nothing better than this. 

“Thank you,” Yumi whispered. “I love you, Ulrich.” 

* * *

The factory was still on Yumi’s mind the next morning. She wondered if Hiroki was going to ask about it again on the way to school. The car ride was silent, though; both and Viktoria had their earbuds plugged into their phones. She wondered if the two of them had talked to each other about the factory and their suspicions. So far, Viktoria hadn’t even mentioned anything about it. 

After she dropped the two of them off at Kadic, Yumi sat in the parking lot of the school for a moment, pondering what to do. It was 7:50, and though she usually arrived at the office early she didn’t have to arrive till 9 o’clock. She knew if she didn’t do this, the worry would gnaw at her all day… 

“Oh, screw it,” she said to herself. She started the car up and drove down the street, and in only a few minutes she arrived at her destination. She quickly exited her car and walked over to the porch. She rung the doorbell, and the door opened to a confused Aelita. 

“Yumi?” she said. “What are you doing here?” 

“Hi, Aelita,” said Yumi. “Sorry for appearing, uh, unannounced. I just...I had more to talk about. Related, uh, to what we were discussing yesterday.” 

“Oh, uh, sure,” said Aelita, stepping aside to welcome Yumi into the house. She guided her over to the living room, where Aelita sat across from her on the couch. “What’s up?”

For a moment, Yumi massaged her temples slowly. She sat silently for a minute as she gathered her thoughts. Finally, she said to Aelita: “Well, yesterday Hiroki started asking about the factory again.”

“Really?” Aelita sat down next to her. She didn’t seem as taken aback as Yumi had expected her to be. “Why? What’d you say?”

“I’m not sure. He’s heard us talk about it before, apparently. I told him we just hung out there when we were teenagers.” 

“Is that all?” Aelita asked.

Yumi shook her head. “No, it’s not. Yesterday, I wasn’t worried about XANA at all. I understood your concerns, but it seemed impossible. But now that Hiroki’s coincidentally asking about the factory… Well, is it a coincidence?” Aelita shrugged--she was just as confused as Yumi was. “Anyways, did you talk to Jeremy about it?”

Aelita shook her head. “I didn’t. You seemed so sure that XANA couldn’t be back that I thought I must be jumping to conclusions. I’ve had bad dreams about XANA throughout the years, so I didn’t want Jeremy to think I was overreacting to one of those.” 

Yumi nodded. She expected Jeremy would react like Ulrich had: understanding but firmly certain that they were wrong. She didn’t blame them. How could an artificial intelligence program revive itself from the dead? While XANA pulled off some incredible feats in his prime, Yumi didn’t think resurrection was one of his tricks. 

And there was something else bothering her. 

“Why are our kids the ones who know about Lyoko?” she asked. 

Aelita pondered for a moment. “Do we know that it’s all of them?” 

“Well, in your dream, XANA took Cynthia, right? So maybe he took her to Lyoko, for...I don’t know, for some reason. And then Hiroki asked about the factory, and I bet Viktoria probably knows. And...the twins, do the twins know?”

Aelita nodded. “I think so. I remember, in my dream--or, uh, memory--Ophelia was the one who told me about Jim kidnapping Cynthia. And Ophelia said that she and Flynn had followed Jim right to the abandoned factory.” 

“So all five of them know,” Yumi said. “Why would XANA do that, do you think? It can’t be a coincidence that our kids all know.” 

“He’d have to know that we would find out,” Aelita added.

“Maybe it’s almost his way of getting revenge, by hurting our kids.” 

Aelita shook her head. “XANA wouldn’t do that. He’s evil, but he’s logical, not emotional. He has to have some sort of ulterior motive to this.” 

Yumi noticed they both had ditched speaking of this hypothetically--as if they were now certain that XANA was back. It seemed more and more likely. Either the two of them were feeding into each other’s paranoia, or the evidence undeniably pointed to the same conclusion: XANA was alive, and their kids were in danger. 

A minute had passed without either of them saying anything. Suddenly, Aelita asked, “Yumi, would...would you ever tell your children about Lyoko?”

Yumi hesitated. “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “Would you?” 

“I’m not sure either,” she said. “You know how I have those diaries about Lyoko?” Yumi nodded. “I started those diaries because I wanted to record everything about Lyoko. It was such a big part of me--even though I don’t remember it, I was trapped in there for ten years. It was like...I wanted to have it all down in writing, just to have it as a part of history--my history. And maybe I hoped that after I was gone, someone would find it, just so that someone else would know.” 

“And would you want your daughter to know?” 

After another moment, she shook her head. 

“Why not?”

“I guess...it’s that parental instinct to protect her. I don’t want her to know that there’s something like...like XANA, something like that is out there.” 

There was a solemn silence between the two of them. “I think I feel the same,” said Yumi. XANA had terrorized her teenage years. High school was already its own nightmare, and the stress of an evil, seemingly unstoppable artificial intelligence that threatened the lives of her and her dearest friends… Yumi would do anything to keep her children away from that kind of danger. 

She finally stood up. Without checking the clock, she said to Aelita, “I better go, I have work soon. It was really good talk to you, Aelita. I’ll see you soon, hopefully.” 

They hugged--it was a quick embrace, but its firmness spoke to the companionship and solidarity between them. They were here for each other. Yumi knew that. She briskly made her way to the door and stepped out into the sunlight. The air was fresh, the sky was bright, the sun was shining. Somehow, it all felt wrong.

* * *

Flynn was the first person to make it to the lunch table. Before he even set his tray down, he checked his phone. Flynn had replied to his text as soon as he left class, and Derek had already responded, lightning fast yet again: “Lol I saw you in between classes today.” 

As Flynn began pondering on the best way to response, Ophelia swooped in out of nowhere, almost crashing into his body. 

“Whoa!” he said, managing to keep a grip on his tray. Ophelia laughed at him. He rolled his eyes and carefully set it down on the table and sat down. 

“Sorry,” she said, sitting down next to him. “Teens can’t keep their eyes off their phones, huh. Who’re you texting?”

“Hm?” Flynn said, simultaneously on his phone and munching down mashed potatoes. He quickly swiped out of the messages app. “I’m not texting anyone.” 

“I literally saw you swipe out of the app, you tool,” she said. “What are you hiding?” 

“I’m not hiding anything!” he insisted. He kept shoveling more and more potatoes into his mouth, as if that would solve the issue at hand. 

“You so are! And you’re like...smiling at your phone like an idiot.” Her tone was growing suspicious. “Dude, what’s up?” 

“Nothing!” he protested, growing red and keeping his eyes on the table. 

“Come on,” she said. “If you’re gonna lie to me like that, at least try looking me in the eye.” 

Finally, he looked up at her. He scoffed. “Can you keep a secret?” 

She nodded, eager to know. Flynn handed the phone over to her, showing her their text conversation. As soon as Ophelia realized what was happening, she beamed. 

“Oh my God, Flynn!” she exclaimed. “This is so amazing. His name is Derek?” He nodded. “I don’t think I’ve ever met him. Maybe he’s new. But I’m so happy for you! He totally seems into you. Is he cute? How’d you meet him?” 

Suddenly, Cynthia pulled into the lunch table, setting down next to Ophelia. “What’s this about?” 

Ophelia quickly handed the phone back to Flynn. “Hi, Cynthia.” 

“What was that?” Cynthia asked, squinting. 

“Hm? What? Oh, it was just a meme. It wasn’t that funny.” 

Cynthia’s furrowed brows suggested some skepticism, but nevertheless she simply shrugged. “Dang, Flynn, your game’s getting weak.” 

Flynn forcefully laughed at her joke. “Yeah, you know me. Always aiming to impress Ophelia and make her laugh.” 

“As younger siblings ought to,” Ophelia said. Cynthia snorted. 

“You are such an ass,” Flynn said. 

* * *

It was 9 p.m. That was when, after Cynthia had left, Flynn had told Ophelia he was meeting with Derek. And Ophelia, in her zealous support for her brother, had decided to witness this up front and personal. She was staking out behind a row of bushes on the left side of the doors of the science building, hidden from sight but able to see and hear everything. Of course, Flynn was unaware he had an audience.

There was Flynn, walking from the dormitory room. Ophelia noticed he’d changed his outfit. He was donning a denim jacket--dressed up enough but not trying too hard. She had taught him well. He stopped underneath the science building’s entrance, checked the time on his phone, and waited. Ophelia quietly scooted a little further back into the bushes, trying not to be noticed. From this angle, though, she couldn’t see anything. Just when she was about to move back, Ophelia suddenly heard the door to her left swing open.

“Derek?” Flynn whispered. 

Ophelia inched a little closer--she wanted to see this guy’s face for herself. When the faint light of the science building and the moon illuminated his face, Ophelia couldn’t help but let out a quiet gasp.  _ Jesus, he really is hot _ . 

“Yeah, it’s me,” he said. 

“Why were you in the science building?” he asked.

“I was waiting inside since it’s cold out here,” he replied.

“Oh… So, um, why’d you want to meet me?” 

_ Is he blushing? That’s cute. Embarrassing, but cute.  _ Ophelia wished she could be more than just a sideline spectator--she did have far more experience than Flynn, and she was dying to coach him--but how could she come out of the bushes smoothly?  _ Hey, I was spying on you, no big deal. _

“I want to take you somewhere,” Derek answered. 

Flynn’s eyebrows raised, and so did Ophelia’s. She thought it was creepy, but he thought it was romantic. Ophelia sighed. He still had so much to learn. 

“O-oh,” Flynn said, blushing even more now. “Where is that?” 

Derek gave no answer, instead raising his arm, pointing it towards Flynn. “Huh?” he said. 

And then suddenly, a jolt of lightning flew from Derek’s hand and struck Flynn. Flynn’s body fell to the floor like a ragdoll. Derek started  _ laughing _ , but that wasn’t even the most concerning thing. His voice was suddenly distorted, like a ghost, like...someone possessed. And though he was far away, his eyes...was that--

_ Oh my God _ . That was all that she could think, all that she could do. She sat in the bushes, paralyzed with fear, as Derek picked up Flynn’s limp body and ran off into the woods. What could she do? She couldn’t fight him, she would be electrocuted. But there was some place where Ophelia could fight… She didn’t know if that was the solution, if that was what was happening, but it was her best guess. 

She knew she couldn’t fight alone. She ran to the dormitory, though quiet enough that she wouldn’t awaken any teacher. She flew up the stairs, through the door, into her room, and then she shook Cynthia's body like there was no tomorrow. 

“What?” Cynthia groaned groggily.

“It’s Flynn,” she said. “He’s in trouble. 

“What about him?” she asked. 

“You know how you got kidnapped?” she said. “When Jim got possessed by that thing?” 

“Oh, don’t remind me,” she said. 

“Well, that just happened to Flynn.” 

“What?!” she yelled, suddenly sitting up. 

“Sh, be quiet,” Ophelia said. “But yes, he got kidnapped. And I’m ninety-nine percent sure it’s the same kind of situation.” 

“What, you want to go to that place?” she asked, clearly not at all in support of the idea. “Do you have any idea what time it is? We have school tomorrow.” 

“Cynthia, we have to go. I’m not gonna let my brother get kidnapped. He helped you out yesterday.”

Cynthia took a deep sigh. “Fine. You’re right.” She rose out of her pile of blankets, and she stumbled over to her dresser. “Just let me put some actual clothes on. And try calling Hiroki. He could help us.”

* * *

Underneath his bed, Hiroki’s phone was ringing.  _ Do I really want to answer that?  _ No, he didn’t, but he figured it had to be important if it was at this hour. It wasn’t like he was going to actually sleep anyways. He rolled over his bed, groaning, and picked it up. “Hello?” he said.” 

“Hiroki,” whispered Ophelia’s voice. “I’m sorry to wake you up right now, but I need you to come to the factory.” 

“What?” he said. He looked over at his alarm clock. “Ophelia, it’s 11 p.m. What are you doing?” 

“Flynn got kidnapped.”

“Kidnapped?!” 

“Mhm. And I think it’s like what happened to Cynthia, so we need to rescue him.” 

He looked at his door. The lights in the hallway were still on. His parents were probably downstairs still, so he couldn’t sneak out through the front door… But on the other side of his room was a window. “Okay, I’ll come.” 

Quickly, he got out of bed, organized the sheets and pillows so that it looked like someone was sleeping there, and then walked over to the window. This thing was old and loud, but he would have to find a way. Carefully and not as quietly as he wanted, Hiroki lifted up the window. 

The door flew open. “Could you be quiet, I’m trying to--” 

Viktoria stopped talking. Hiroki froze. 

“Hiroki?” she said. “Are you sneaking out?” She sounded more stunned from disbelief than disapproving. 

He turned back to her with the most sheepish look. “Please don’t tell Mom and Dad, Viktoria! Please?” 

She folded her arms, looking extremely smug. She was soaking in every moment of this. “Where are you going?”

“...To help a friend. Flynn.” 

“And why’s that?” 

“I… I can’t… I mean, I don’t know why, but he said he needed help.” 

She chewed her lip, considering whether or not to rat him out.  _ Please, please, please no…  _

“Okay,” she said, shrugging. “But on one condition.” 

“Whatever you want, I’ll do your chores, I’ll do your homework, I’ll--”

“I wanna come with you.” 

He didn’t expect that.

“What?” he said. “Why?” 

“Mom said I’m supposed to look after you,” Viktoria stated. “So I’ll look after you. So, we going?” 

He was still confused, and not really at all okay with this, but it was better than being snitched on. “Fine.” He crawled out the window, and he carefully scaled down the wall. Viktoria didn’t have the patience for that, instead jumping straight down.  _ Show-off _ .

Dusting off her hands, she then inquired, “Where are we going?”

“A factory,” he said.

“Is that the factory you mentioned?” she asked. 

“Maybe. You coming, or what?” Hiroki burst off running into the street without waiting for an answer, and Viktoria chased after him.

* * *

Cynthia and Ophelia were just getting out of the sewer path when they ran into Hiroki on the bridge. There was a problem, though: Viktoria was with him.

“Hiroki,” Ophelia said, not at all hiding her annoyance. “Why is she here?”

“I had no choice,” he explained. “Or she was gonna snitch on me.” 

“So what is all this?” asked Viktoria as she looked at the giant factory building. 

“Flynn’s in here,” Cynthia said. “Sort of. He’s...in a virtual world.”

“A virtual world?” snarked Viktoria. “Did you guys smoke or something?”

“No, Vik,” Hiroki said. “It’s real, I promise.” 

“We’ll show you,” Cynthia told her, “and hopefully that convinces you. Let’s go.” 

Cynthia, Ophelia, and Hiroki all ran into the factory, grabbed the ropes, and descended down. When Cynthia looked back up, she saw Viktoria motionless and gaping. “Coming?” she asked teasingly. 

“You guys are gonna get me killed, aren’t you,” she grumbled as she grabbed a rope and jumped down. 

She walked over to the elevator, saying, “This thing looks pretty...uh, shabby. Can it hold us all?”

“It’s held three of us,” Cynthia said. “So four shouldn’t be too much. Probably.” 

She pressed the top button, causing the shutter door to come down and the elevator to slowly descend. The shutter door went back up, and then the metal door behind it gave way, revealing the computer lab. The room lit up by itself, as if it was awaiting their arrival: the computer screen turned on, and the holograph appeared, displaying the virtual world for Viktoria.

“What is this?” she asked. She looked like a child in a candy store. 

“This is how we get to the virtual world,” Ophelia said. 

“Are you gonna explain what this virtual world is?” 

“Lyoko,” Cynthia interjected, surprising Ophelia. “At least, that’s what I think it’s called.” 

“Lyoko? How do you know that?” Hiroki asked.

“When I went into that tower, that word appeared on the holographic screen.” 

“Tower?” Viktoria asked. “Where exactly is this place?” 

“It’s where Flynn is right now,” said Cynthia. She put on the microphone headset. “Flynn? You there?” 

“Cynthia?!” he said, his voice panicked and lost. “Is that you?” 

“It’s me. Flynn, can you describe where you are?” 

“I’m… I’m in some forest. But it’s like...it looks like a video game. I don’t really know where I am.” 

“You’re in Lyoko, Flynn,” Cynthia said. “It’s a virtual world. You don’t remember, but we’ve been here before.” 

“What? What are you talking about?” 

“Just listen. Stay put just for a moment, and then we’ll come and help you.” 

“We?” 

“Ophelia, Hiroki, Viktoria, and I,” she said. “Just hold on. I know you’re confused right now.” 

“We’re going into a virtual world?” Viktoria asked skeptically. “How?”

“Just go down to the next floor,” Cynthia told her. Viktoria looked extremely doubtful, but she followed her orders and went with Ophelia and Hiroki.

When she stepped out of the elevator and saw the scanners, she started laughing nervously. “This is so...strange. I feel like I’m, like, in a cult, or some science fiction movie. What are these?”

“Scanners,” said Cynthia’s voice. “They’ll be what sends you to Lyoko. Unless you’re scared to go.” 

For a few seconds Viktoria tapped her foot, deciding. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll do it. But if I die from this...you are so dead, you got me?” 

“You’ll be fine, Viktoria,” Hiroki taunted. “Don’t be such a scaredy-cat.” 

Huffing, Viktoria stepped into a scanner, not one to lose to her brother. Ophelia and Hiroki followed suit. “We’re ready,” Ophelia said. 

“Okay…” Cynthia said. “I just have to figure out how to do this. I’m not super good with computers, or at least not ones with virtual worlds… Oh, a window just popped up. Let’s see…” 

The scanner doors closed as Cynthia typed in the listed commands. Viktoria was nervous as the lights got brighter and brighter, and her body was lifted up inside the scanner. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and toughed it up. 

“Virtualization!” 

* * *

Ophelia landed on the ground, and unlike her first time she was prepared and landed safely. She stood up and surveyed the new area. The ground was dark kelly green, and the air was illuminated by some emerald light. Trees literally filled her vision; at almost every inch, on and off land, thin trees towered into the sky, so high up that Ophelia couldn’t see the canopy. 

Hiroki came next, landing smoothly, and then Viktoria. She wasn’t so lucky, landing on her stomach. She groaned in pain. Hiroki quickly helped his sister stand up. 

“Ugh…” she said. When she was on her two feet, she was finally able to take a look at the world. The skepticism was finally washed away from her face. “This is...huh, wow.” 

“Welcome to Lyoko, Viktoria,” said Cynthia’s voice. 

Ophelia nodded, looking at Viktoria’s Lyoko outfit. She looked like a paladin warrior that had jumped out of a fantasy novel. She was dressed in tight silver metal armor, with gold plates tightened on her shoulders, a gold and silver belt around her waist, golden earrings shaped like diamonds, and a golden circle in the middle of her chest imbued with a sapphire in its center. 

“Whoa,” Viktoria said, also noticing her gear. “I look…”

“Cool,” Hiroki suggested.

“Badass, more like it,” she said. She checked her waist: no sword or anything. On her back, though, was a large axe with a sharp golden edge. “This is sick.” 

“We don’t have time for games,” Ophelia pointed out. “Let’s get Flynn.”

“Well, how are we gonna find him in a forest?” Viktoria asked.

“There’s a map on the screen,” Cynthia’s voice said. “He’s not that far. Where you guys are facing right now, take a left, and then...right.”

“Okay,” Viktoria said. “Easy.”

“Not quite, Viktoria. There are monsters here, and I have a feeling they’ll be in our way.” 

“I’ve got an axe, I think I can handle them.” 

“Well, we’ll see about that. I think I’ve figured out a way to virtualize myself, so I’m gonna head down, and then we can set out.” 

Cynthia’s voice disappeared, and the three warriors were left to themselves.

“So uh,” Viktoria began. “how did you guys find this place?” 

“It’s a long story,” Ophelia replied. “It involves virtual realities, kidnapping, and time travel.” 

“I’ve been through two out of three. I can handle it.” 

“Well, kinda sorta yesterday, Cynthia got kidnapped by a possessed Jim. That possessed Jim took Cynthia into this virtual reality. Flynn, Hiroki and I all followed possessed Jim to the factory, and we went into the virtual world to save Cynthia.”

Viktoria looked at her with skepticism, a face she had been wearing all night. “I think I would have remembered a kidnapping.” 

“Well, yeah. But the computer, when we saved Cynthia, it said like...press this button to return to the past. And Flynn did that. And when it returns to the past, everyone who hasn’t been in Lyoko has their memory wiped. And Flynn was never in Lyoko, so he never remembered.” 

Just then, Cynthia virtualized and landed between the two of them. “Did I interrupt something?” she asked.

“We just finished,” answered Viktoria. “They were debriefing me. Sorry to hear about your kidnapping? We going now, or what?” 

“Let’s go.” 

The four of them ran eastward, with Cynthia leading the pack. Just when they took the first turn, though, things got complicated. Ophelia heard a deep humming coming from the distance. She looked up and saw a horde of five monsters resembling giant, deformed, green wasps fluttering their way, intimidating them with their sharp tails and large proboscises. 

“Here they are,” Cynthia warned. “I don’t think we can outrun them.” 

“So let’s kill them,” Viktoria said. She took out her axe and clumsily swung it at one of the hornets; the wasp fired back at her, and she barely dodged it. The monster was too focused on her to notice Hiroki, who threw his dagger straight into its forehead and knocked it out. 

“Don’t worry, Vik, I can look after you too,” he teased. 

Viktoria scoffed. “Don’t get too cocky, there’s four of these.”

“Less talking, more fighting, please,” Ophelia said. Just as she said that, she found herself surrounded by three of the wasps, and they were all simultaneously charging their lasers. Energy bullets started forming in the palm of her hands, but she realized that couldn’t take them all out. Her black wings spread out, forming a powerful gale that pushed the monsters back. She jumped into the air and began to chase them down.

“She can fly?” Viktoria said. “And what do I got, an axe?” 

Ophelia smirked as she swiftly eliminated two of the wasps with her bullets. The third one fled from her, swerving behind the trees to avoid her fire. The fourth hornet, unnoticed by Ophelia, was still well and alive and shot her from behind, knocking her back to the ground. 

Viktoria tried again to swing her axe at one of the wasps. It easily moved out of her way and flew over to Cynthia, defenseless. The wasps menacingly hovered over her, and Cynthia ran to the edge of the platform, holding out her staff and forming a shield. 

“What the hell?” she said. “Leave me alone, you stupid bug! I can’t even do anything.” 

The wasp fired three lasers into her shield, which shattered like glass. Cynthia squealed, and in a panic pointed her staff towards the monster. She hadn’t expected anything to happen, yet suddenly above the wasp a rock began to materialize from thin air… The rock suddenly dropped down and squished the wasp to pieces.

There was still one more monster, and this one had cornered Hiroki up against a tree. He tried throwing a few daggers to kill it, but the hornet was agile and nimbly dodged them all. Frustrated because she hadn’t had any success, Viktoria took out her axe again and threw it at the hornet. The axe cleanly sliced through the hornet, annihilating it. But the axe continued spinning through the air and flew off the edge of the platform, heading for the green sea below. 

“My axe!” Viktoria yelled. She ran to the edge of the platform and reached out for it, even though she knew it was too far to physically grab. Suddenly, though, the axe stopped in its tracks and was hovering in midair. 

“You’re glowing,” Hiroki said, amazed. 

Viktoria said nothing back to him, but she realized what was happening, as the axe was enveloped in a white aura. She was controlling the axe with some sort of telekinesis. Staying focused, she slowly and surely levitated the axe back to land, returning it to the slot on her back for safe keeping. 

“That was cool,” she remarked, placing her weapon back in its sheath.

“Enough admiring, let’s get to Flynn now,” implored Ophelia. 

The other three nodded and once again began running along the path. They took their right turn, and sure enough they found Flynn. He looked like an angel warrior sent from Heaven: he had white wings as wide as his sister’s, white and silver armor adorned in a shimmering transparent robe, and a brilliant, shining white lance attached to his belt. But Flynn was in a hot spot right now; he was cornered by two of the red crab-like monsters, pinned up against a thick-trunked tree. Flynn noticed them, and he yelled, “Help!” 

Unfortunately, just as Flynn noticed them, he also drew the monsters’ attention to them as well. Both of them turned around, looked at the warriors, and instantly began to open fire upon them. 

Ophelia flew into the air, circling around the trees and above the monsters. She launched a stream of energy bullets at one of them, but none of them made contact. The same crab looked up to her and fired, hitting her in her stomach. Ophelia fell through the air, spinning and unable to control herself. She was about to fall off the sector, when the monster hit her with yet another laser, devirtualizing her. 

“Ophelia!” Cynthia yelled out. 

“What the hell?” Flynn yelled. “What just happened to her? Cynthia, where the hell are we? And who are--Hiroki? And Viktoria?” 

“No time to explain,” Viktoria said. “I think we’re in the same boat, to be honest.” 

She stepped back to form a plan--the monsters were staying place, and their fire couldn’t reach them from they were standing. “Hiroki, I’m gonna need you to distract them. And Cynthia, I’m gonna need you to form a barrier.” 

“On it,” they both said. Cynthia pointed her staff at Viktoria: in front of her suddenly appeared a hollow tree trunk, shielding her body. Hiroki ran ahead, throwing multiple daggers at the monsters. The daggers barely scratched the crabs’ legs, but it grabbed their attention. They turned towards Hiroki and fired. 

Viktoria threw her axe, and it missed widely, digging into the tree instead. Viktoria closed her eyes and began concentrating, putting her hands to her temples. A white aura surrounded her body, and the axe suddenly detached from the tree trunk and slowly hovered. When the axe was placed precisely above one of the crabs, Viktoria swung her hand downward, and the axe dropped simultaneously and destroyed the monster. 

The second crab began firing at her in retaliation, and Hiroki then took his own opportunity to jump on top of it and throw three daggers into the symbol on its head, causing it to explode. He jumped off just in time and smoothly landed on the ground. 

“What just happened?” Flynn asked again, still totally perplexed. “Where is this?” 

“It’s Lyoko, Flynn,” Cynthia said. 

“You’ve been here before,” said Ophelia, suddenly at the microphone. 

“W-what?” he said. “Where is she?” 

“I’m in the factory,” she explained. “And you guys are in a virtual world called Lyoko.” 

“But we don’t have time to explain,” Cynthia pointed out. “There’s still the tower. Ophelia, can you find the tower on the map?” 

“It’s… Go straight down the path for awhile, and you should see it.” 

“Let’s go.” 

The three of them ran past the tree. For a moment, Flynn stood still, utterly bewildered. “What is happening?” 

Turning her head back, Cynthia yelled, “There’s no time! Just come with us!” 

He joined the rear end of the pack. Sure enough, there was the tower, with the same red aura as last time. 

“That’s the tower?” Flynn asked.  
“Yes,” Cynthia answered. “And I need to get in it and deactivate it.” 

“Deactivate it? What for?”   
“Flynn,” said Ophelia over the microphone. “That’s how you got kidnapped. There’s something in this virtual world that’s out to get us.” 

“How did you get kidnapped, anyway?” asked Hiroki. 

“No time to explain!” Ophelia interjected. “Get to the tower, Cynthia.”

“We’re gonna have a little bit of a delay,” Cynthia warned. Behind the tower emerged a new opponent, one they hadn’t seen before, and it looked powerful. It was a big black ball rolling towards them, almost like a bowling ball split in half. The ball stopped in front of the tower, and opened up. In the very middle was the symbol they had seen on all the other monsters. The eye began glowing, charging… 

Cynthia started backing up. “We better move out of--” 

The monster fired. Its launched a large laser wall directly at them, which they didn’t expect. Cynthia tried pushing everyone away from the attack, but the monster managed to hit Hiroki, and he was instantly devirtualized. 

Viktoria picked up her axe and threw it at the monster, but the monster easily deflected it by closing up its shell. 

“No fair,” Viktoria complained. “And now I can’t get my--” 

The monster quickly fired its laser, and Viktoria was devirtualized as well. 

“Oh, no,” Ophelia said. “Cynthia, you can’t get devirtualized. Flynn, you have to help her.” 

“How do I do that?” he asked. 

“You have a spear, don’t you? And wings?” 

“I-I… Yeah, I do… But I don’t know how to fight.” 

“We hardly do either, but we’re all gonna have to learn. Fly up in the air until you have an opportunity. Then you kill it. Cynthia, I need you to take cover.” 

“On it,” Cynthia said, nodding. She looked over at Flynn. “You got this?” 

“Not really,” he said. 

“I believe in you, Flynn. Do it.” She ran over to a tree thick enough to protect her, and then patiently waited. 

“O-okay,” Flynn said. “Hey!” The monster turned to face him. “Yeah, you. Think you can beat me? Well, uh…” 

The monster fired its laser. Flynn jumped into the air, hovering just above the ground, and swerved to the right just in time. He flew higher, and the monster began rapidly firing at him, but Flynn was able to dodge all of its attacks, to his own amazement. 

“O-okay, I can do this,” he said to himself. “I can do this…” He grabbed the spear from his belt. He strafed in the air from side to side, trying to find an opportunity like Ophelia said. The monster wasn’t attacking anymore, but instead it was closely following his every move, moving side to side with him, waiting for him to make a mistake. 

“Go, Flynn!” Cynthia begged. 

Flynn nosedived downward, straight to the monster. The monster began charging another attack. Flynn knew he couldn’t hesitate. he extended his spear and aimed it directly at the insignia. Just as the spear made impact with the monster, the monster also fired its laser. Both Flynn and the monster were destroyed simultaneously. 

“Go, Cynthia, go!” urged Ophelia. 

Cynthia quickly ran into the tower, the area finally cleared. She stepped onto the platform, each layer of the symbol glowing up as she placed her foot on it. Her body levitated into the air, bringing her to the upper platform. There again was the holographic screen. Quickly, she placed her hand on the screen: 

CYNTHIA   
CODE LYOKO

The data files lining the walls of the tower quickly plunged to the bottom, and Cynthia was submerged in darkness. 

“It says return to the past,” Ophelia said uncertainly. “Do we do it?” 

“Yes,” Cynthia said with a confident nod. From below her, a white light suddenly burst throughout the whole tower, swallowing her whole... 

* * *

Suddenly, Yumi was staring at her reflection in bathroom mirror, dressed her pajamas. Just a second ago she had been downstairs in the kitchen, turning off the lights because Hiroki had forgotten to. Had she just blacked out? That didn’t make sense. It felt like an almost instantaneous change. As if her position in space and time had warped. 

She was growing suspicious. She checked the time on her phone: 7:01 a.m, August 21st. The date hadn’t changed, yet somehow it was morning yet again.

One incident was dismissable. But two wasn’t a coincidence. She unlocked her phone to dial a number. 

The other end picked up instantly. “Yumi?”  
“Aelita?”

“Did you just--”

“Go back in the past?” 

“I think we just did.”

“So that would mean--”  
“XANA’s back. He has to be.” 

Yumi took a deep breath. Every fear, every paranoia, every suspicion of hers that had nagged her brain incessantly had become true, despite all her hopes. “I’ll call you later. We definitely need to talk.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another episode, another XANA attack. This time we learn some more about Flynn as XANA drags him into the virtual world, while Hiroki accidentally brings his sister into the fold as well. Now all five of the original Warriors' children have acquainted themselves with XANA, though they still don't know his name. They're slowly learning the ropes of the virtual world, though, and next episode they'll find something that will reveal more about the nature and history of Lyoko. We'll also get to meet another friend of the original warriors next episode!


	3. Reunion

It was a peaceful Sunday afternoon. The clock ticked, a robin chirped outside, and the sound of the television droned on as Aelita sat on the couch drinking a cup of water. Everything was just as life ought to be. The show was something about the possibility of the universe being a virtual simulation--that made her laugh. Suddenly, she heard the front door whirl open. 

“Hello!” echoed her daughter’s voice from the hallway. 

“Cynthia?” Aelita asked, rising from the couch. Her daughter hadn’t come home since the beginning of the school year. 

“The one and only,” she proclaimed, suddenly emerging from the hallway. “Hi, Mom.” 

“Hi, sweetie. Thanks for coming home, but why are you here?” 

“I just wanted to pick up a few things and bring them to my dorm,” she said. She walked to the fridge and began inspecting its insides.

“Is raiding my fridge part of that?” Aelita asked. “They feed you breakfast, you know.” 

“Hey, let me live. The cafeteria food isn’t gonna satisfy me.” 

Aelita noticed her daughter was holding a blue journal in her hand. “What’s that?” 

“Hm? Oh, this? That’s just a journal, er, diary, or whatever. I think I might start keeping a diary. You know, like any teenage girl.” She paused. She had that familiar look of wonder, the one that’s been scrawled on her face from a little age. She had been an annoyingly curiously child. “Did you do a diary when you were my age?” 

Aelita didn’t exactly have a normal childhood for anyone to relate to. She did have some journals, ones that she made as an adult, to make a record of how strange a life she had lived. She hadn’t touched those in years. “I did, at one point.” 

“Cool.” Cynthia shrugged, putting no thought to it. “I’m gonna go upstairs.” 

“Don’t get too wild,” Aelita joked. Cynthia made a dash for the stairwell, and disappeared. Aelita heard the sound of a door slamming and smiled. She was glad her daughter had a normal life, and all the things that came with that: journals, a home, parents… Everything that every person ought to have. 

And yet Aelita was worried that could all fall apart very soon. She was certain that XANA was back. One return to the past could be dismissed as a dream, but two returns corroborated by Yumi’s memory seemed irrefutable. That much, in her mind, was a certainty. What wasn’t so set in stone was whether their children were involved. As evil as he was, XANA wasn’t vengeful. Jim kidnapping her daughter… Aelita convinced herself it was an isolated, one-time incident. There had to be a purpose for dragging their children into the virtual world, and she couldn’t think of a logical one. Therefore, it couldn’t be true. Even if XANA was back, their kids were fine. They had to be. 

She tried to keep her mind off it. Almost a week had passed since the last return to the past. For now, she returned to her normal, real life, and returned to her normal, boring television show. 

* * *

Cynthia was hoping her mother wouldn’t notice the journal in her hand, but that plan had instantly been foiled. Her story had been just an on-the-spot ruse--she was proud of herself for thinking so quickly on her feet. It wasn’t totally false, though; Cynthia was going to use this to record something, record someone’s life. Just not her own. 

She had been suspicious for awhile. Like Hiroki, she had heard her parents talk about this mysterious factory. Of course, that could be any factory in Villanova, but Cynthia had this gut feeling inside her, hinting that things were awry. And her mother had always told her to listen to her gut. 

The door to her mom’s room was open. Silently, Cynthia tiptoed across the hallway from her own room to her mother’s, carefully trying not to make her own door creak. Her mother probably wouldn’t be suspicious if she heard a creak, but she wanted to have the utmost caution still. 

She made it. Now she had to find the diaries. Cynthia assumed that her mom kept them in her room, but that was the deepest extent of her knowledge. Would her mom hide them? If they had something she didn’t want her child to know, then maybe… Cynthia scanned the room, thinking to herself, _Where would I hide something in this room?_

She checked the drawers of her dresser. Clothes, clothes, clothes--no book, no journal, no diary in sight. Where else? 

The bookshelf. Most of this was her father’s stuff from his own research, but maybe… She scanned the shelf. It was all stuff she didn’t understand or care about: calculus, quantum physics, the history of quantum physics, a dusty old textbook without even a title… Nothing resembling a personal, sentimental diary. But maybe… 

She pulled back the dusty leather-bound textbook--and her gut was right. Behind that was a small pink diary, with the letter _A_ on it. A for Aelita, she assumed. She pulled the diary out and opened to the first page. 

_This is the story of Lyoko, and how my life was changed forever by it._

Cynthia’s heart started pounding--she hadn’t expected such immediate confirmation, yet her suspicions had been true all along. The factory was more than a hangout spot for them. They, just like their children, went into Lyoko… She kept reading: 

_This is the story of how five kids destroyed an evil, artificial program known as XANA. This is the story of how my father tried saving me and ended up destroying himself._

_That sounds melodramatic. But it’s a heavy subject, especially for me. Lyoko was a huge part of my life--it consumed almost ten years of my life._

Cynthia opened up her notebook and started recording important details: _five kids = parents; evil thing = Xana (monsters?); grandfather involved?_ She resumed reading: 

_On one hand, I absolutely despise Lyoko. It ruined me, and it ruined my family. But on the other hand, I have to recognize how significant it’s been in my life. I can’t just forget, no matter how hard I try. It’s so important, that I can’t just let it go to waste, unrecorded, forgotten when all five of us are gone. Therefore I’m writing this diary to record everything I can remember about Lyoko, XANA--everything we experienced as teenagers in that crazy virtual world._

This was incredible. 

* * *

It was Monday morning now, approximately 7:30 a.m. The five of them had agreed to meet early before breakfast outside of the cafeteria--and everyone was there, except Cynthia. 

“Has anyone seen her?” Ophelia asked, sounding worried. 

“Not since Friday,” answered Hiroki, his tone moping. He sighed loudly. 

“What’s wrong with you?” 

“I left all my stuff at my house,” he said. “I feel stupid. I have no idea how I forgot my whole backpack. Today’s gonna be an awful day, especially without you guys.” 

“Aw, cheer up, Hiroki,” Viktoria said, patting him on the back. “You’ll manage to do well.” 

“Easy for you to say.” 

Just then came Cynthia running and holding a small book in her hands, seeming excited and exhausted. 

“There you are,” Ophelia said. “Where’ve you been?” 

“I,” she huffed, “was up all night. Doing this.” She pointed to the notebook. 

“And what is that?” 

“It’s a diary,” she replied “You won’t believe what I found out.”

“What’s so exciting about the diary?” asked Viktoria. 

“Everything about Lyoko,” Cynthia said. “is in here.” 

“Really?” she asked skeptically. “And how’d you find that out?” 

“My mother,” she answered. 

“What?!” said the entire group at once. 

“That’s right. Our parents went to Lyoko, just like us.”

“There’s no way,” Flynn said. 

“I knew it,” Ophelia said. 

“It’s all in my mom’s diary,” she explained. “Everything.” 

“What did you learn?” Ophelia asked. 

“God, there’s a lot, um… Oh, I read about the computer program that’s been attacking us. Its name is XANA. You know the little symbol, the eye thing on all of the monsters on Lyoko? That’s the Eye of XANA. He’s some nefarious program that our parents fought as teenagers. He uses the towers on Lyoko to access Earth and launch attacks. He’s the one who kidnapped Flynn and me.” 

“It’s a computer program that’s doing all of this?” asked Hiroki.

Cynthia nodded. “Yeah. XANA is, like, an evil artifical intelligence program, basically.” 

Viktoria shook her head, displeased. “We need to shut this computer down. I’ve been telling you guys that all weekend.”

“What?” Hiroki asked, sounding heartbroken by the suggestion.

“That...XANA thing, it’s dangerous. It’s kidnapped you and Flynn--who knows what else it’ll do to us? I mean, we don’t know what it wants from us, but why risk it? Why keep it alive?” 

There was a reluctant silence among the group, an uncertainty overtaking them. 

“She has a point,” Ophelia said, with obvious hesitance in her voice. “How do we shut down XANA, though?”

Cynthia sighed. “He should be attached to the supercomputer, I think. If we turned it off, XANA and Lyoko would both be gone.” 

“Then we should turn it off,” Viktoria said. 

“I agree,” Flynn said. “Getting kidnapped by that thing was terrifying.” 

Cynthia bit her lip, frustrated. She was clearly outnumbered.

“Is something wrong, Cynthia?” Ophelia asked her.

“No,” she lied. “I’m just tired. We can shut down the supercomputer. It’s definitely way too dangerous to be kept up.” 

“Great,” said Viktoria. “When should we do it?” 

“How about at the end of the week?” Cynthia suggested, testing the waters. Viktoria shrugged--she seemed fine with it. “Classes are starting to get busy, so we shouldn’t do it on a school night. We can go on Friday.” 

“Friday’s the beginning of the year mixer,” Hiroki pointed out. 

“Hiroki,” said Ophelia, “what’s more important--a school dance, or an evil artifical intelligence that could kill us?” 

He laughed. “Okay, okay, fair.” 

“We can go before the mixer,” Cynthia said. “We’ll definitely have enough time.” 

“Do you think XANA will attack us before Friday?” Viktoria inquired. 

Cynthia hesitated. “Who knows. I don’t really know what his...goal, or motive is. It’s been almost a week since he’s attacked, so I’m not sure. If things get serious, we’ll shut it down immediately.” 

“Sounds like a plan,” Ophelia said, stepping towards the cafeteria. “There’s twenty minutes till first period. We should probably get breakfast.” 

* * *

Cynthia’s science teacher, Ms. Hemmer, moved from the blackboard to the glass case sitting on top of her desk. “Now, we must be careful--these are black widow spiders. I’ve borrowed them from the local zoo for our lesson today. These spiders are venomous, though their bites are usually not fatal to humans. Still, I obviously can’t let you near them. But from here you can still observe--” 

Ms. Hemmer droned on and on, and normally Cynthia would be sitting up straight, taking notes, and paying attention, but at the moment she couldn’t care less for black widow spiders. Her mind was racing with a thousand ideas, all of which were centered on the same axis: Lyoko. The possibilities, the new discoveries, they were all so exciting, they all gave her this weird sense of adrenaline.

Yet a wave of worry overlaid all these feelings. She wasn’t fully sure what exactly XANA was, but she knew he was incredibly dangerous and needed to be terminated. Despite knowing that, Cynthia had felt hesitant to shut down the supercomputer so soon. She felt a pang of guilt in her stomach for being so secretly selfish, but she had a good ulterior motive for stalling. 

Cynthia had only had the time to read a few pages from the diary this morning, so she only knew a small chapter of Lyoko’s story. Yet already there was something from her mother’s diary that bothered her. Her mother, along with her four friends, had supposedly destroyed XANA once and for all using a multi-agent system, whatever that meant. Clearly, that couldn’t be true--XANA was very well alive. Ignoring the primary question of how, Cynthia was concerned with something else. If her parents couldn’t truly kill XANA, how could she be certain that turning off the supercomputer would terminate him? 

And another question--why had XANA brought her to Lyoko? And the others--while the other three might have been accidental, he had purposefully brought Flynn to Lyoko. From what Cynthia had read, his plans were evil, sure, but they were calculated. And yet Cynthia couldn’t figure out why he was doing this. That was part of why she wanted to keep Lyoko alive for now, understanding XANA’s motives. She knew that XANA was incredibly dangerous and capable of killing. Lyoko wasn’t her research project. Yet still she hoped that the five days until Friday would allot her enough time to figure things out--and after that, she hoped XANA would be gone for good. 

“Cynthia!” 

“Hm?” she said. Her eyes had been closed shut, and she hadn’t realized. Everyone was staring at her. 

“Is my class just not interesting enough for you?”

“No, ma’am, I’m… It is interesting. I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep well.”

“Hmph. Pay attention, dear.” 

Cynthia’s cheeks were glowing red. Ophelia and Flynn looked back at her, seeming worried. She just shook her head at them, trying to dismiss their concerns.

* * *

As soon as the bell rang, Ophelia abandoned her brother and chased after Cynthia. She ran into the hallway and spotted her in the sea of students. “Cynthia!” she shouted. Cynthia turned around. “What happened in class? You okay?” 

“Nothing,” she insisted. “I was just...tired.” 

“But you’ve never done _that_. You’re a perfect student, you’ve never zoned out, or missed a homework assignment, or failed a test, or anything!” 

“We all have our off-days,” she said, trying to move away. 

Ophelia didn’t buy that defense. “It’s Lyoko, isn’t it? Is it stressing you out? I understand, trust me, but it’ll be over soon, you know that.” 

“I’m fine,” she said. “I mean, yes, Lyoko is stressful. I’m just...trust me, Ophelia, I’m good.” Before Ophelia could stop her, Cynthia quickly stormed away and disappeared into the crowd. 

Flynn walked up to his sister. “Well, that didn’t look too good.” 

“She must be in a mood,” Ophelia dismissed. She shrugged it off. She and her brother walked towards the exit together.

“I’ve never seen her act like that,” Flynn remarked. “She always keeps it together.”

“I guess she’s going through her sophomore slump.” 

As they walked out of the science building, they bumped into Hiroki. When he saw their gloomy looks, he asked them, “What happened to you? Someone died?” 

Ophelia shook her head. “Just Cynthia. She’s not doing too well.” 

“It’s a bad day for everyone,” Hiroki said. 

“How’d class go for you?” Flynn asked. 

“Miserable. I forgot my homework along with all my books. My teacher was pissed.” 

“I think it’s your lucky day,” said Ophelia, looking behind him. 

“Huh?” Hiroki turned around, and when he did his face broke out into a huge smile as he gasped. “ _Dad!_ ” 

Hiroki ran to his father and gave him a huge hug. That wasn’t the only reason he was excited--his father was also carrying his backpack. 

“Here you go, Hiroki,” his father said, patting him on the head. 

“You are a lifesaver. Literally. Thank you so much!” He hugged him, even more tightly.

Suddenly, a bell started ringing from within the science building. Ophelia turned back and saw a herd of students panickedly rushing through the halls, led by Ms. Hemmer. She realized that wasn’t a bell--it was an alarm. 

“What’s wrong?” Flynn asked. 

Ms. Hemmer burst out of the door. A harmony of screaming students began to ring in the air. “The black widow spiders escaped their container,” she announced. She was frazzled, her wiry glasses falling off her nose. “The glass sh-shattered, and they escaped! I need everyone to step away from the building, please.” 

* * *

Meanwhile, Cynthia had gone to the factory instead of her next class. She figured if she wasn’t going to be able to focus, there was no point in staying. She might as well learn something actually interesting, and possibly useful.

The elevator opened up to the computer lab. The supercomputer and the hologram system lit up. Cynthia propped herself up at the computer, setting down her notebook and her mother’s diary on the keyboard. She opened up the latter to the page she’d bookmarked and began reading the next entry: 

_Maybe it’s best to begin where Lyoko began, though I never fully understood its origins. As far as I know, the supercomputer was used by my father, under the alias Franz Hopper, to create Lyoko and XANA. My father as well as my mother had been involved with a covert military operation titled Project Carthage. For reasons I don’t know, they abandoned the project, went into hiding, and my father created Lyoko and XANA as a weapon against Carthage._

“Holy shit,” Cynthia whispered to herself. “My grandpa…” 

She never knew much about her grandparents on her mother’s side. Her mother had always told her they had been scientists and passed away when she was young--which, perhaps, could still be true. Cynthia also knew their first names had been Waldo and Anthea Stones. The idea of her grandparents living on the run from the government was hard for Cynthia to swallow. 

She turned on the computer. She still didn’t know very well how to operate the supercomputer, but she hoped she could stumble her way through without harming anything, and then possibly find anything related to Project Carthage. The computer still needed time to boot up, though; she resumed reading while she waited. 

_I never knew what the purpose of Project Carthage was, nor do I know what the original purpose of XANA was. I do recall, when I was very young, our secluded lifestyle in the mountains--that was before Lyoko. Although I was happy with my parents, I still felt lonely--I had no other friends. My parents would never explain to me why we couldn’t live in a normal neighborhood. Even when my father and I relocated to Villanova, I_ \--

Suddenly, the computer began beeping urgently. Cynthia almost jumped out of her chair. On the computer screen, a window had popped up. It took a second for Cynthia to analyze the information: an image of a tower, with a malevolent Eye of XANA hovering next to it. She was unsure what this meant until she read the two words above the image: 

She gasped. “An activated tower,” she muttered. She jumped out of the chair and retrieved her cell phone from her backpack, and she immediately began dialing. 

* * *

Kadic was in a panic. Class had come to a pause. The students had bundled at the bottom of the stairs into one crowd, whispering to each other and making calls to their parents. Ms. Hemmer and other faculty members had done their best to barricade the doors of the science building--so far, the spiders hadn’t been seen outside of the building. Ms. Hemmer stood with Principal Dunbar at the top of the stairs, trying to soothe the crowd. 

“What’s happening in there?” one student cried out. 

“Frankly, I have no idea,” confessed Ms. Hemmer, trying to hide her state of bewilderment with a feigned calm expression. “I’ve never seen nor heard of any spiders behaving this way. I assure you, we’re doing our best to control the situation.”

Ophelia was stuck in the middle of the crowd next to her brother, Hiroki, and Hiroki’s father. Flynn whispered in her ear, “Do you think it’s XANA?” 

“The spiders?” He nodded. “I have no idea. It could be. That’s different than what he’s done before, though.”

“Where’s Cynthia?” Hiroki shouted over the crowd. 

“I have no idea,” she shouted back. “I lost her after bio.” 

“Everyone, please be quiet!”

The booming voice silenced the crowd. Principal Dunbar waited until every student stopped talking and resumed his speech. 

“Everyone back away from the building, please!” he ordered. “Back away, and get to a safe place. This is not the time to record a video with your phones. These spiders are dangerous.” 

“William…” grunted Hiroki’s father.

“Huh?” Hiroki said, looking up to him. 

“Er, nothing,” he disregarded. 

Daniel Dunbar called out to the teachers, “Where are the spiders? What if they’re in the other buildings?”

“The spiders have been contained in the science building,” answered Ms. Hemmer. “Rest assured, the danger is minimal. There were only a handful of spiders in the cage. We still had to evacuate because black widows are venomous, but they will be easily handled by the--”

“Oh my God!” 

Another student--Michelle Chalamet--interrupted Ms. Hemmer, pointing to the science building’s entrance. The spiders were creeping through the cracks of the doors in unision, like they were a collective hivemind. Their number was far greater than Ms. Hemmer had described, however. They were moved together as one, giant, black dense mass of seemingly thousands of indiscernible spiders. 

The crowd of students scattered--some heading for the dorm, others for the cafeteria, others heading to other class buildings, yet others running into the woods. Ms. Hemmer and Principal Dunbar jumped off the stairway, narrowly escaping the horde of spiders.

Hiroki’s father took a step back, seeming unnerved. “I don’t like this…” he said to himself. 

“Ulrich!” the principal shouted. “Do you think--” 

“I don’t know” he responded. “It isn’t likely. But I’m not sure how else this could happen. If it’s...you know who, we have to be the ones who handle it.” 

“Right.” 

“What are they talking about?” Flynn asked.

“Who knows,” Ophelia said. “There’s no time to wonder--we should get out of here.” 

“Yeah,” he said. “Let’s go to the cafeteria.” 

Hiroki nodded. “Dad!” he said. “We need to leave.” 

“I’m staying here,” his father responded. “The adults will take care of this. You kids better take cover.” 

Hiroki was visibly concerned, but Ophelia grabbed him by the arm and forced him to evacuate. It was a short walk between the science building and the cafeteria, barely fifty feet, but she had to hope it would be safe enough from the spiders regardless--there weren’t many hiding spaces on campus. She looked back at the building--the horde of spiders was still growing in size, almost as if it was multiplying.

The cafeteria was packed to the brim with the students. Through the window, Ophelia could see kids hiding beneath the lunch tables and in the kitchen. Standing at the entry was Viktoria. 

“There you guys are,” she said. “What the hell is happening?” 

“There’s a bunch of spiders set loose,” Ophelia said. “And if you ask me, it’s suspicious.” 

“You’re not saying--” 

“Lyoko,” she said. “I think XANA might be doing this. And I think your dad knows, too.” 

She looked over at her father, who was exchanging whispers with the principal. “You think he knows about XANA?” she asked, skeptical. 

“Well, duh, that’s what Cynthia told us. Our parents hung out at the factory--that’s code for Lyoko. I think we need to go there, but I don’t know where the hell Cynthia ran off to.” 

Just then, her phone began ranging. “Huh?” she said. It was a call from Cynthia. Ophelia immediately picked up. “Cynthia, what is it? Where the hell are you? Do you know what’s going on?” 

“I’m at the factory,” she said through the phone. “And the computer, an alarm came on it. There’s an activated tower. I don’t know what’s happening, but--” 

“Oh my God,” Ophelia said, almost relieved. “Cynthia, I think I know what XANA’s doing.”   
“Huh? What do you mean?” 

“He’s, uh, basically possessed a bunch of black widow spiders, and now he has a whole army of them. They’re marching out of the science building right now, and--oh my God!” 

The horde of spiders began scuttling towards the adults. Ms. Hemmer screamed and jumped out of the way. She ran back inside the building, but the spiders paid her no mind--they were heading straight towards Mr. Stern and Principal Dunbar. The two men tried to run, but they had reacted too late and were overwhelmed by the arachnids. 

“Dad!” Hiroki yelled. He began to sprint towards his father, but Viktoria grabbed him by the sleeve of his shirt before he could get too close. She held her brother back and could only watch as their father and the principal succumbed to the horde of spiders, which were climbing up their legs one-by-one. 

Ms. Hemmer reappeared from the science building, brandishing a large white bottle with a spray nozzle. She sprayed it onto the horde, causing them to quickly scatter. When they had left, she immediately began attending to the men’s injuries, pulling up the sleeves of their legs. From this distance, Ophelia could see their skin was red from biting. 

“Are they gonna be okay?” Viktoria asked. 

“I--yes, they should be,” Ms. Hemmer answered--she seemed frazzled by the state of events. “The spiders’ bites are dangerous, but not lethal. These spiders exhibited unusually aggressive behavior however--not to mention how strange it is that they multiplied so quickly and inexplicably. More importantly, we need to get these two to the infirmary, and possibly to the hospital.” 

“We need to go to Lyoko,” Ophelia whispered to the three of them. 

“No way!” protested Viktoria. “My dad might _die_. I’m staying with him.” 

“Me too!” chimed in Hiroki. 

“Fine,” Ophelia said. “Just...don’t get into too much trouble. I have a feeling XANA isn’t done just yet.” 

Viktoria and Hiroki aided Ms. Hemmer in guiding their father and the principal to the infirmary. As they departed, Viktoria gave a quick nod to Ophelia and Flynn--signalling, maybe, that she’d make sure things were okay. Ophelia hoped she could keep that promise. 

With Flynn behind her, Ophelia made it towards the woods, hoping to take the sewer path to the factory. She dialed Cynthia’s phone number--she instantly picked up. 

“Cynthia,” Ophelia said. “We’re on our way to the factory right now. XANA’s using a horde of black widow spiders to terrorize the school, and he got the principal and Mr. Stern. So we need to hurry.” 

“Jesus, that’s scary. Okay. I’ve found the tower: it’s in the forest sector, and it looks like it’s guarded by some monsters.”

“We’ll hurry, then--oh, _no_!” 

“What is it?!” 

“XANA’s given us our own welcoming commitee of spiders in the forest.” 

The spiders appeared to have regrouped in the woods after Ms. Hemmer’s assault. Somehow, they had anticipated Ophelia and Flynn’s arrival. The bugs had formed into a giant, impenetrable line, moving together as an organized hivemind. The line was too thick to jump over, and certainly too dangerous to step through. The spiders did not pursue the twins, however; they simply waited for them to move forward.. 

“We might take a little longer,” Ophelia said. “Gotta go.” 

She put her phone back into her pocket. “Okay, so how do get over this?” she asked, expecting no answer. 

“If we get bitten by them, there’s no way we’re making it to the factory,” Flynn said. “We can’t let Cynthia do this alone.” 

Ophelia scanned her surroundings. She considered running through the city to get the factory, or finding a longer, roundabout route through the woods. Either way, she suspected the XANAfied spiders would give chase. 

An idea suddenly came to her. “We’ll have to jump over,” she said to Flynn.

“And how do we do that?” he asked. “There’s no way we can jump over the spiders--well, I don’t know, you do cross country, so maybe, but I--.” 

“No, no, not like that. We have to climb the trees. And then we jump.” 

Flynn couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You’re insane.” 

“I get it from Dad,” she said. “Are you doing this, or are you gonna let XANA poison more and more people?” 

He sighed. “Fine. But if we die, I’m killing you myself.” 

“Right back at you. Ready?” 

Ophelia chose a tree close to the line of spiders, in order to minimize the distance she needed to jump--she wasn’t confident in her athletic abilities, and even less so in her brother’s. Flynn boosted her up, letting her step on his shoulders to climb up to the lowest branch. Once she pulled herself up, Ophelia grabbed him by the hand and steadily lifted him up, gripping on a sturdy branch above to maintain her balance. 

“Jesus,” she said, almost out of breath. She looked over at the barrier of spiders--this task seemed a lot more challenging suddenly. “This better work.” 

“Oh my God,” whispered Flynn. “Holy shit.” 

“Okay, Flynn, it’s not that scary. Don’t be so--”

“No, Ophelia, not that. Look down, look down--” 

“Aren’t you not supposed to look down when you’re climbing?”

“Ophelia, shut the hell up! Look down--the spiders are fucking climbing the tree!” 

“What--Jesus almighty Christ!” Flynn was telling the truth--a line of spiders had separated from their barrier and were scuttling up the bark of the tree. 

“Jump!” he said, almost pushing his sister. “Fucking jump!” 

Ophelia leaped off the branch, landing gracelessly in the dirt. Her brother followed in similar style, dust flying in the air as he landed--but they were both safe. The spiders had quickly realized they had escaped and began pursuing them. Ophelia quickly pulled her brother up from the ground, and the two of them ran for their life to the sewers.

* * *

Hiroki sat in the hallway of the infirmary next to his sister. They were waiting for Ms. Hemmer and Mrs. Green, Kadic’s nurse, to come out and tell them the news; they weren’t allowed inside the room while Mrs. Green was examining their father and the principal. Hiroki had dialed his mother in the meantime, hoping she would pick up.

“Hello?” she said on the other end. “Hiroki?” 

“Mom?” Hiroki said over the phone. “Hello?”

“Hiroki? Why are you calling me? Aren’t you in school? Dad’s getting everything you forgot, by the way.” 

“I know, I’m calling about Dad. He came here, and then… There was this giant crowd of spiders, and--” 

“What? Spiders?” 

“It was from Ms. Hemmer’s science class. But they like, they multiplied. There’s a bunch of black widows, and they--they bit Dad.” 

“Oh my God. Is he okay?!” 

“Um, I’m not sure. He’s unconscious, but they say that he’ll be fine eventually.” 

“Okay, okay. I’m coming over to the school, okay? I’ll be there soon, Hiroki. I love you.” 

“Love you too, Mom.” He hung up on her.

“Do you think he’ll be okay?” he asked his sister.

She grabbed Hiroki’s hand and squeezed it. She offered no answer beside that. 

* * *

Cynthia heard the elevator door open up behind her. She turned her head: the twins were finally here. 

“Hope we didn’t take too long,” Flynn said. 

“We better hurry,” said Ophelia. “It looked bad at the academy, and it’s probably getting worse.” 

Cynthia nodded. “Okay. I was able to figure out how to boot up a self-virtualization program. I’ll start that now, and then we’ll head down to the scanners.” 

She pressed a button on the keyboard, and a timer popped up on the screen, alloting them one minute. She ushered the twins to the ladder that connected the laboratory and the scanner room. She climbed down last.

As she descended the ladder, she shouted down to the twins, “So the spiders attacked Hiroki and Viktoria’s dad?” 

“And the principal,” Flynn shouted back up. 

Once near the ground, Cynthia jumped down from the ladder. “Are they okay?” 

“Last we checked, yeah,” said Ophelia. “Why would XANA go after them, but not us, do you think?”

Cynthia slowly walked over to the scanners. “I’m not sure. Their dad was part of the Lyoko team, so maybe that had something to do with it.” 

“And the principal?” Flynn asked.

She shrugged. “Collateral damage? Again, I’m not sure." 

"And how the hell did you figure out self-virtualization?" asked Ophelia skpetically.

Another shrug. "Don't ask me. The computer did it all. A window popped up saying to press a button to launch the program."

"Convenient," Flynn said.

"And weird," added Ophelia. "How does the computer know?"

Cynthia sighed. "We'll think about it later, okay? The scanners are about to start up.” 

The three of them each stepped into their own scanner. Just on time, the scanner doors shut close and began to transport them to Lyoko. 

* * *

Ophelia landed in unison with the other two warriors. She scanned the area: they had landed directly in the center of a four-way intersection. Each road was a straight path dotted with trees that stretched to the sky, no tower in sight. 

“Oh, the forest again,” Ophelia said. “This place is like a maze.” 

“Where’s the tower?” Flynn asked.

“Well...I’m not exactly sure,” Cynthia admitted. “It’s somewhere in...that direction.” She pointed north. 

“Well, great, but there’s a lot of stuff north.” 

“You two have wings, don’t you? Use them to fly.” 

“Oh, really?” he said. “Making us do the work for you?” 

“Hey, I have to do work here, too, you know. I’m the one deactivating the towers.” 

He shook his head, but he gave in to her demands. “Fine. Let’s go, Ophelia.” 

The two twins took flight and followed the north pathway, soaring quickly. Cynthia did her best to keep up with them. 

Soon after they had taken off, Ophelia dived down to ground level. “I see it,” she told Cynthia. “Straight ahead.” 

“Any monsters?” Cynthia asked. 

“Not that I can see. But it could be a trap.” 

Up ahead, the pathway broadened out into a wide plateau. At its center was a thick, ancient looking tree, whose twisting roots stretched over the whole platform. At the edge of the plateau was the activated tower, glowing a menacing red. XANA hadn’t left the tower undefended, however: four monsters approached the warriors from behind the tree, two on each side. They had never seen these monsters before: they were four-legged, arachnid-like creatures. 

“What are _those_?” Flynn asked. 

“God, they look like spiders,” said his sister. “I’ve had enough of those today.” 

“Tarantulas!” Cynthia exclaimed. 

“What?” 

“Tarantulas! That was in my mom’s diary--one of XANA’s monsters.” 

“Tarantulas, spiders, whatever… Let’s just get rid of them, quickly.” 

The two twins flew off into the air again and circle the plateau. The pair of Tarantulas on the right knelt down on their hind legs and began firing at the twins with their front limbs. The other pair of Tarantulas knelt down and aimed at Cynthia. She quickly ran towards the nearest tree trunk and hid behind there, as the Tarantulas continued firing, unwilling to let her escape. 

“These things are persistent!” yelled Ophelia from above.

“But inaccurate, thankfully!” Flynn yelled back. 

“I wish I could join in on your fun,” Cynthia said loudly. “But these guys are trying to kill me, and they won’t give up!” 

“Try doing something with your staff!” Flynn suggested.

“Flynn, you’ve suggested that so many times, and I can only do so much with this thing.” 

“I dunno, just try! It’s a guess and check kinda thing!”   
She looked at her weapon. She had initially assumed it was useless, but it turned out to have many functions: it could create terrain as well as form a shield. Inside the staff’s pink orb, she could see glowing energy swirling around. 

She peeked from behind the trees. The Tarantulas on the left were still firing. She would have to step out into open fire to aim her staff at them and risk devirtualization. But the Tarantulas on the right were already in her line of fire, and they were distracted: they were facing the other way, focused on the twins. Hoping for the best, Cynthia pointed her staff at one of the Tarantulas and concentrated. The inside of the orb began to glow and swirl intensely, and the rod of the staff vibrated in her hand. A glowing white light began to surround the Tarantula’s body. Suddenly, the monster exploded, alarming the other three.   
“Was that you, Cynthia?!” Flynn asked. 

“I think so,” she said uncertainly. The other monsters had taken note of this as well, though. The third Tarantula, now without its partner, turned its attention away from the twins and began firing at her.

“I need some help!” she begged.

“We’re on it!” Flynn yelled. He swooped downwards and unhitched his spear from his waist. He aimed for the Tarantula’s head, but his weapon barely scratched its skin. The Tarantula hissed at him.

“You’re gonna need to do better than that,” his sister teased. She launched a barrage of energy bullets at the same Tarantula, destroying it. 

“Hmph,” Flynn said. He swerved around to the other side of the tree and this time pierced the Tarantula in the back of its head. The remaining Tarantula screamed in alarm, firing at random to defend itself. Ophelia swooped in and destroyed it with her bullets. 

Cynthia finally stepped away from the tree trunk. “Thank you,” she said to them. 

“It’s no problem,” Ophelia said, gently landing on the ground with her brother, both of their wings folding in. 

“There’s the tower,” Cynthia said, pointing to the end of the plateau. “We better hurry there. Who knows how Hiroki’s dad is holding up.” 

* * *

Ms. Hemmer and Mrs. Green had finally emerged from the infirmary room. The looks on their faces seemed less grim than when they had entered. As they were about to update Hiroki and Viktoria on their father’s status, the doors to the infirmary wing burst open, and their mother entered the hallway. 

“Mrs. Ishiyama?” said the nurse in alarm--it seemed they hadn’t known she was coming. 

“I’m here,” she said. “Where’s my husband?” 

“Your husband is in the infirmary room--but, please, calm down. He’s regaining consciousness as we speak. He should be fine.” 

“Thank goodness,” she said. She turned to her children. “You said he was attacked by spiders, Hiroki?” 

“Um, yeah. Like a whole crowd of them.” 

“Indeed,” Ms. Hemmer piped. “It’s very odd behavior. I’ve never seen nor heard of black widow spiders acting like this. As one crowd, almost like a single entity.” 

“Black widows? Aren’t those dangerous? Why were they in the school to begin with?” 

“Yes, I know, I understand your worry. I had the spiders in a glass case, for my biology class today. Somehow, they had broken out of the case and multiplied in numbers. Only your husband and the principal were harmed. Strangely, though, we found no sign of venom in their bloodstreams. The only damage done was the bite marks.” 

“Oh, thank God--the principal?” 

Ms. Hemmer nodded.

“The spiders bit William, too?” Hiroki’s mother asked again. 

“Yes. I fended them off with some insecticide, so they weren’t able to bite anyone else.”

Hiroki noticed his mother only seemed more distressed now. He exchanged a look with Viktoria, wondering if their mother shared their suspicion that XANA was behind the attack. 

“Where are the spiders now?” their mother asked Ms. Hemmer. 

Ms. Hemmer walked over to the window, pointing towards the forest. “The spiders have seemingly congregated into one mass in the woods--again, highly unsual behavior. We’ve gathered the students inside the basement of the dormitory for their safety. I’ve armed the teachers there with what little insecticide I have. If the spiders were to somehow infiltrate the building--which is unlikely--the students will be safe.” 

“I don’t think the other students have to worry about that,” she said, “because the spiders are heading this way.” 

Ms. Hemmer peered outside the window again. Indeed, the horde of spiders was scuttling from the words towards building’s the infirmary wing--and they were covering ground quickly. “Hm… Interesting. They shouldn’t be able to enter the building--we’ve secured the doors--and we should be fine nonetheless, as we have the rest of the insecticide with us.” 

“Should?” their mother asked uncertainly. 

“Nothing’s for certain,” she replied. “The insecticide will stop them, no matter what.” 

“Yeah, well, I’m quite the pessimist, and I think something strange is happening,” said Hiroki’s mother, slowly backing away from the window--the spiders had already made it to the building, and had begun scaling the window. 

“It’s like they know we’re in this building,” she said. 

“But why would they go after us?” Mrs. Green asked.

“That’s exactly what I was wondering,” she replied. 

Hiroki pulled his sister aside, far enough that the adults couldn’t hear them. “I think we need to go,” he whispered to her. “Those spiders are about to break in, and I’m not sure Ms. Hemmer’s insecticide is gonna stop them.” 

“Hiroki, there’s no way we can leave now,” Viktoria said. “Those spiders have this building surrounded. The moment we step outside, we’ll get bitten.” 

“If we stay inside, we’ll get bitten,” he said, his voice rising in volume. 

“We’re safer inside than outside, Hiroki. And besides, we can’t abandon Mom and Dad. We have to help them.” 

“Mom and Dad know way more about this situation than we do!” he said. “They know about XANA and how to deal with them. We need to get to the factory and join the others on Lyoko.” 

“Hiroki, Viktoria!” their mother suddenly exclaimed. Hiroki quickly stopped talking and turned towards her. “Where are you two going?” 

“We’re not going anywhere,” Viktoria assured her. “We’re just not sure what’s going on.” 

“Uh, yeah!” Hiroki added. “What are those spiders doing?” 

She looked just as worried as her children. “It’ll be fine, I promise. I can handle it.” 

“What if they hurt you, like they hurt Dad?” he asked. 

“I won’t let that happen.” She looked back at the window--it was now completely obscured by the black widows. The spiders were frantically and silently scuttling across the glass pane, blocking out the incoming sunlight. 

“It appears they’re looking for a way in,” Ms. Hemmer noted. “But I have no idea what draws them to this building.” 

“It’s me,” their mother said. 

“What do you mean?” Mrs. Green asked her. 

“I can’t explain it, but I know for a fact those spiders are coming for me. They went after Ulrich and William, and now I’m their next target.” 

“Excuse me, Mrs. Stern, but what you’re saying sounds unbelievable--” 

“You can choose not to believe me, Ms. Hemmer, but I can guarantee those spiders will come after me the moment they get into this building. There’s a reason they’re behaving so unusually, and that’s because there’s something controlling them. I don’t have nearly enough time to explain that to you, though. I need you to find a safer place in the building for us to hide.” 

* * *

Cynthia and the twins had just defeated XANA’s Tarantulas without any losses, and now the tower was in plain sight at the end of the platform. However, as Cynthia began to run towards the tower, she came to a screeching halt, as XANA’s second line of defense revealed itself. Four block monsters emerged from behind the tower and scuttled towards her and the twins, rapidly firing their lasers. The three of them quickly retreated and took cover behind the thick tree trunk. 

Ophelia peeked around the tree. The monsters had stopped moving and were standing in a square formation. It seemed they were waiting for the warriors to come back. 

“So we had Tarantulas,” she said, “and what are these block things called?” 

“Bloks,” answered Cynthia.

“What?” Flynn asked. “Are you for real?” 

“Your guys’ dad named most of the monsters.” 

Ophelia scoffed. “Figures.” 

“They’re not chasing after us,” Flynn said. “They’re just waiting.” 

“XANA’s priority is keeping us out of the tower,” Cynthia said, “not devirtualizing us. He’s going to keep his Bloks stationed right there. We have to make the first move.” 

Cynthia pulled out her staff, firmly gripping its rod. “I can try making one of them explode, like I did with the Tarantula.” 

“That won’t work a second time,” Ophelia said. “You’ll have to be out in the open, and the Bloks will gun you down before you’re finished. Flynn and I will have to lead the attack.” 

Her brother nodded. Ophelia flew up into the air, and he quickly followed her lead, holding his spear in his right hand. Cynthia peaked around the tree again: the Bloks were staring straight ahead, unaware of their presence. 

Ophelia gave the signal to her brother, and she flew in from the right side of the tree, and Flynn from the left. Instantly, Cynthia could hear the sounds of bullets and lasers being exchanged. She popped her head out. All four of the Bloks were peering up at the twins, who were circling around the tower. Ophelia was haphazardly firing bullets left and right, but she couldn’t hover in place long enough to focus her aim. Flynn deflected the monsters’ lasers with his spear, but he couldn’t come in close enough to even make a scratch. 

Cynthia pointed her staff at the Blok closest to her. Its body began glowing a bright white. Another Blok noticed her, turned its head, and stopped firing, and as it was distracted Ophelia swooped down and destroyed it with a barrage of bullets, while the first Blok simultaneously exploded into pieces. 

Ophelia cheered for herself in celebration and began to soar back into the air, but the two remaining Bloks focused their fire on her and struck her with two lasers. The momentum of their attack hurled her body straight into the tree, and her body limply fell to the ground. One of the monsters’ eyes began to glow a bright blue, and it launched a stream of blue energy straight towards Ophelia. Suddenly, her body was entirely frozen in ice. 

“Ophelia!” Flynn screamed. He quickly flew down to the ground and landed in front of her body, trying to protect her from the rest of their fire. Cynthia ran towards him and created a shield with her staff, guarding both of the twins from the Bloks’ lasers. 

“Flynn, you have to attack, now!” she yelled at him. 

Flynn nodded. He jumped out into the open--one Blok turned towards him, while the other focused on Cynthia and Ophelia. The Blok’s eye began to glow a bright fiery red. As it prepared its attack, Flynn hurled his spear directly towards the monster. The Blok spewed several ring of fire from its eye. Flynn quickly jumped to the left to dodge its attack. His spear soared directly through the rings and pierced the Blok in its eye, and the monster exploded into pieces. 

At the same time, Cynthia’s shield shattered into shards. The final Blok’s eye began to glow red as well. Flynn looked at his spear, which he had thrown too far away--he would never reach it in time to save his sister and Cynthia. He sprinted towards the monster and as it began to launch its rings of fire he hurled his body into its own. The Blok fell onto its side and misfired its attack, the rings missing Cynthia by several feet. 

The Blok thrashed its tiny legs wildly and twisted its head left and right furiously, unable to regain its balance. Cynthia calmly walked over to Ophelia and struck her frozen body with her staff. The ice instantly shattered and Ophelia fell to the ground--her body appeared to have taken severe damage from that attack. She gave a cursory glance at the last standing Blok and dismissively shot an array of bullets, and the monster exploded. 

“Jesus, that was tough,” Ophelia said. “XANA’s deploying every soldier he’s got against us.” 

“Those Blok things have, like, three different attacks,” Flynn said. “They’ve got more than I do, it’s not even fair!” 

“You weren’t the one who got frozen. I wouldn’t complain.” 

Cynthia began to walk toward the tower again, knowing time was of the essence. A faint sound caught her attention, though--a distant cry of some creature in the distance. She stopped right at the entrance of the tower and examined the platform. Not a monster in sight, only her and the twins. 

“What’s keeping you waiting, Cynthia?” Ophelia asked. 

“I thought I heard something,” she said, looking off in the distance. There was only one path connecting the tower’s plateau to the rest of the sector, and she could see nothing approaching them. Yet again, she heard the cry, this time louder. “There it is!” 

“I hear it too,” Flynn said, looking back at the pathway. “Where’s that coming from?” 

Ophelia gasped. “Holy--holy shit.” She pointed in the opposite direction--towards the end of the plateau, behind the activated tower. “We’re looking the wrong way.” 

Cynthia and Flynn turned around, and the two of them jumped in fear. A giant creature, almost looking like a jellyfish, was floating in midair. It was bigger than any monster they had encountered yet, practically the height of the tower itself. Its body was so big that it had to delicately twist and turn to avoid bumping into the forest’s trees, yet it was approaching the plateau with alarming speed. 

“It looks like we’re not done yet,” said Ophelia. 

* * *

Hiroki was huddled on the floor next to his sister at the back of the room. Mrs. Green and Ms. Hemmer had guided them and their mother to a storage room in the basement. The three of them were posted at the front of the room, trying to barricade the door as well as they could with what supplies were available--they had pushed two empty wooden shelves and a bookcase against the door, though Hiroki didn’t understand why they needed to barricade a door against a bunch of insects. He kept an eye on his mother, who was pacing around the room with an anxious, secretive look in her eyes. 

He shuffled his legs, trying to get comfortable. The marble tiles of the floor were hard, dusty, and frigid. He kept checking his phone, hoping for updates from Cynthia and the twins, but he wasn’t sure if he could even connect to the Wi-Fi from the basement. His sister was faring better than him. She was sitting completely still with her back straight against the wall. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was slow. She looked like she was meditating. 

“Hiroki, I can _feel_ your anxiety,” she said. 

“Sorry. I mean, can you blame me?” 

“I understand.” She opened her eyes, making sure their mother wasn’t listening. Lowering her voice, she said, “We just need to hope those three are close to the tower by now.” 

Hiroki nodded. He glanced at his phone again: no updates. 

“I told you guys,” Viktoria continued, “we need to shut that...thing down, as soon as possible. If we had done it sooner, Dad wouldn’t be in trouble.” 

“I know,” he said, his face downcast. “We said we’ll do it at the end of the week.” 

“The sooner, the better. Something else might happen by the time Friday rolls around. And--” 

She quickly stopped talking. Their mother had begun walking towards them. Hiroki hid his phone away in his pocket, as if there was any incriminatory evidence on there. 

Their mother crouched down to talk to them. “Are you guys doing okay?” she asked. “I know this is...pretty scary for you guys.” 

Hiroki wasn’t sure what to say. His sister spoke up for him: “Yeah. I’m fine. I mean, I’m scared, but...I’m fine.” 

A closed book. His mother turned towards him. “How about you, Hiroki?” 

He shrugged his shoulders. He tried to choose his words carefully: “I’m...I’m okay, yeah. Do you think...well, is everything gonna be okay? For us, for dad?” 

She pondered over the question, carefully. Hiroki tried examining her eyes, as if they would offer a glimpse into her mind. He didn’t doubt what Cynthia had told them that morning--the diary was damning proof for sure. But it was nevertheless a hard idea to swallow: the idea of his own mother fighting in a virtual world. How in the world did she get wrapped up in that? He could ask the same question about himself, to be fair. 

Finally, she answered: “I know things look grim, but it’s all going to be okay. To be honest, I think I’m more worried than you guys, but uh…” She shook her head, cutting off that sentence. “It’ll all be fine. Okay?” 

The two of them nodded. Their mother gave them her best smile and walked back to the door, peeping through the window into the dim hallway. Hiroki looked towards his sister and whispered: “Do you think she knows?” 

“I’m certain she does,” Viktoria answered. “But we can’t ask.”

“Can we?” 

“No! She’ll kill us. Or we’ll get ourselves killed. This is why it has to be shut down.” 

“But--” he began. 

“Hiroki, no,” she cut off. “Give me a rational reason why we shouldn’t.” 

No response.

“Exactly. Once this shitstorm is over, we’re--” 

The sound of glass shattering from the floor above cut Viktoria off. She stood up, alert, and her mother took the same stance. Ms. Hemmer and Mrs. Green gaped at the ceiling. 

“What was that?” Hiroki asked. 

“Well--it sounded like glass breaking,” said Ms. Hemmer. “Perhaps a window?” 

“Is that the spiders?” 

“It can’t be,” Mrs. Green answered. “How could a group of spiders, no matter how big they are, break a window?” 

“I think you’re underestimating these spiders,” their mother retorted. She pulled out her phone and urgently typed something into her keyboard. Returning it to her pocket, she pushed the bookcase and the shelves against the door. 

“Is that gonna stop them?” Viktoria asked her. 

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. But all we can do now is...wait. And hope.” 

“For what?” 

Their mother avoided the question. 

* * *

The giant monster hovered towards them menacingly, swaying left to right as it navigated through the trees. As it landed on the plateau, its slimy tentacles slid and oozed against the ground. It easily towered above them, yet despite its size it moved with surprising agility. 

“Alright, Cynthia,” said Ophelia. “What the hell is this thing?” 

Cynthia examined the creature: it was unlike anything she had read about in her mother’s diary so far. It was like a jellyfish that came out of a nightmare. Its head was a clear membrane through which she could see what appeared to be its brain. The membrane crowned its pink, coneish body. The Eye of XANA, which appeared to be its only weak spot, was smaller than any other monster’s weak spot. The monster had what looked like fangs between its head and body, and between these fangs, centered in its membrane, was a thin plate bearing its Eye. 

“I have no idea,” she muttered. “But it looks terrifying.” 

“Well, that’s not great,” said Ophelia. “How do we get rid of it?” 

“How do we get rid of any monster? Go for the eye.”

“Just get in the tower!” urged Flynn. “We’ve dealth with enough monsters. We need to stop the attack, and then we’ll deal with this...jellyfish thing.” 

As if it could understand him, the monster placed itself directly between the warriors and the tower. It made no further approach towards them, and instead hovered ominously, waiting for them to make a move. As if it were daring them to find out what it was capable of. 

“It’s not attacking us,” observed Cynthia. “It’s just...waiting.” 

“There’s no time to lose,” said Ophelia. “If it’s the last thing standing between us and the tower, we just have to get rid of it. Since its weak spot is up on its head, Flynn and I will fly up and try to get it. You ready, Flynn?” 

“Do I have a choice?” 

“Let’s go!” 

The two of them took off from the ground. Cynthia watched them, a knot forming in her stomach. Her gut was telling her to be scared of this monster, moreso than any other they had encountered so far. She wasn’t sure if it was merely fear from its sheer magnitude that induced this anxiety, or if this monster was actually capable of graver danger. 

The twins, however, flew fearlessly. They circled their new opponent in unison, harassing it in harmony: while Ophelia bombarded its membrane with bullet after bullet, Flynn would fly in to poke it with his spear, but the monster appeared unphased. It was rather passive in its defense: occasionally it would try to deflect and swat away Ophelia’s bullets with its tentacles, but it never acted aggressive towards the two of them. Their attacks appeared to do nothing: the only way to defeat it was a direct strike in its eye. 

“This isn’t working!” Flynn yelled out from up above. 

“I can see that, genius!” Ophelia said. She hovered in midair and put her hands together to create a giant energy ball. She hurled it towards the monster’s membrane and just barely missed the eye. She began to create another energy ball, when suddenly the monster wrapped one of its tentacles around her foot and slammed her against the ground. She cried out in alarm, as the monster completely enwrapped her body with its tentacles. 

“Ophelia!” Flynn cried out. 

His sister did not reply. Her body had gone completely immobile in the monster’s grasp. A red aura had surrounded Ophelia’s body, and it appeared as if the monster were draining energy from her brain. The tips of its tentacles were pointed to Ophelia’s temples, and a red liquid flowed from her head to the monster’s membrane. 

“What is it doing?” Flynn asked. 

“I don’t know,” Cynthia said. “but we better stop it!” 

Flynn resumed flight and dive bombed straight towards the monster. He aimed his speartip directly towards its eye, and his weapon made direct contact with the target: yet nothing happened. His spear failed to pierce the monster or even make a scratch, and merely bounced off the monster’s head. 

“What the hell? Is this thing invincible?” 

Flynn repeatedly attempted to stab the monster’s head again and again, achieving the same results. Cynthia observed this as she frantically tried to concoct a plan. She had no idea _what_ this monster was taking from Ophelia, but her gut instinct told her this was more nefarious than mere devirtualization. If they couldn’t defeat the monster the standard way, what could they do? If they had Viktoria’s axe, or even Hiroki’s knives, they could slice the monster’s tentacles to free Ophelia--but that seemed implausible with a weapon like a spear. If they couldn’t outright kill the monster, was there a way they could at least free Ophelia?

An idea came to her. 

“Flynn!” she yelled. “Use your spear!” 

“Cynthia, I know you’re smart, so what does it look like I’m doing?” 

“Not on the monster,” she said. “Use it on Ophelia.” 

Flynn paused, looking at her unsurely. “What?” he said. “You want me to devirtualize Ophelia?” 

“It’s the only way we can free her from the monster, okay? It’s the only way.” 

He gave a sigh that signalled little faith in this idea. “You’re the brains, Cynthia, so I’m trusting you.” He hoisted his spear like a javelin, and whispered: “Ophelia, you better be grateful for this.” 

He hurled the spear through the air. It pierced the back of his sister, and she was instantly devirtualized. The monster gave out a frustrated cry. Suddenly, it lurched towards the two of them, seeming to hunger for a new target. 

Before she could process this, Flynn had grabbed Cynthia’s hand and made a run for the tower, dragging her behind him. The monster’s tentacles attempted to wrap themselves around Cynthia and Flynn’s limbs as they passed by. One tentacle caught her by her ankle and caused her to trip and stumble to the ground. 

She cried out for help, but Flynn was prepared: he picked up his spear and hurled it at the monster’s head yet again. Although the move once again did no damage, it stunned the monster, long enough for Cynthia to regain her footing. She grabbed Flynn’s hand and the two of them burst into the tower. 

Cynthia fell to her knees as she stepped onto the platform. She gasped for air, inhaling deeply. Flynn eyed the inner walls of the tower uncertainly, as if the monster would penetrate through them any second now. 

“You good?” he asked her. 

After catching her breath, Cynthia nodded. “I am. No time to waste--I’ve got a tower to deactivate.” 

* * *

Despite every instinct in his body telling him to get as far away as possible, Hiroki had moved to the front of the room, with his ear placed against the wall to hear the first sign of the spiders’ arrival. 

“Hiroki, don’t be an idiot,” his mother urged him. “Stay at the back of the room. Let the adults--” 

“Shh!” he suddenly said, pressing his whole body against the wall. “I think I hear them coming.” 

The whole room became silent, listening closely. Hiroki was right: the collective, amplified noise of a thousand tiny legs tapping against the hard basement floor was clear as day, and the sound was only becoming louder and louder.

Hiroki heard his mother curse to herself, and he felt her hand grip the collar of his shirt before she dragged him away from the wall. He understood this as an order to retreat to the back of the room and huddle with his sister. As he moved back, he watched his mother urgently arrange the shelves and bookcases once more, as if there was anything else she could do. 

“Is everything okay, Mom?” he asked her.

His mother didn’t look back at him, but he could hear her seething in despair. “You’ll be fine,” she answered. “It’s me they want.” 

Viktoria perked up when she heard this. “What do you mean?”

“There’s...a lot I could tell you, but I won’t. I can’t. I just--I’ll be fine. I won’t die. I don’t think that’s what they’re trying to do…” 

The scuttling of the spiders suddenly came to a halt. Their mother straightened her back, her eyes focused on the door. The silence was not at all comforting. Hiroki exchanged a look with his sister. Her calm state of mind from before was cracking--her face was riddled with worry. 

He grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight. Viktoria squeezed it back. 

* * *

“Well?” Flynn said. “What are you waiting for?” 

Cynthia craned her neck at the sky and said, “Ophelia? Are you there? Ophelia?” 

Just for a brief moment, there was no response. Then, over the microphone, Ophelia came in: “Uh, yeah? Can someone tell me what the hell happened to me?” 

“I’ll tell you later, I promise. Right now, I need you to return us to the past. Can you do that?” 

“I...I think so?”

“Great.” Without waiting for a solid confirmation, Cynthia ran into the tower. 

* * *

The first spider creeped its way into the room, easily crawling under the barricade they had created. Mrs. Hemmer gasped when she spotted the spider and quickly crushed its body with her shoe. It was a short-lived victory--another spider followed, and another, and for a moment she continued to stomp the bugs until they revealed their true numbers. Lines of spiders began entering the room, numbering enough to form a militia. Mrs. Hemmer shrieked and made her way to the back of the room, standing in front of the children to protect them. Mrs. Green stood by her as well. Hiroki’s mother took her stand in front of them. 

* * *

Cynthia hovered into the air, wishing she could urge her body to fly faster to the top of the tower. She could only hope she could make it in time yet again.

* * *

The spiders had quickly infested the room, completely obscuring the entire wall on the opposite side of the room. Their bodies made the wall completely black, yet Hiroki thought he spotted something glowing a menacing red on each of their bodies. He didn’t need to get closer to know it was the Eye of XANA.

“My God…” muttered Ms. Hemmer. “It’s a nightmare.” 

“It’s XANA,” Hiroki’s mother whispered. 

He instantly made eye contact with Viktoria. She nodded, but she held up a finger to her mouth. “Later,” she whispered. “Right now, we need to protect her.” 

* * *

Cynthia arrived on the top platform, and rushed to the holograph. She pressed her palm against it: _CYNTHIA_ , the screen read. 

* * *

The spiders were progressing swiftly to the other side of the room, and it became clear they had a target in mind: Hiroki’s mother. 

His mother tried her best to impede their progress. She pushed down a shelf holding bottles of medicine, hoping to crush her attackers. The shelf crashed to the floor, bottles opening up and spilling their pills, but it left the majority of the spiders unharmed. 

She moved to the right side of the room. The spiders quickly turned to follow her--they paid no mind to the room’s other occupants. They were increasing not only in number but in speed as well--before Hiroki’s mother could move, they had formed a ring around her, too wide in circumference for her to jump over. 

Hiroki buried his face in his sister’s shoulder, squeezing her hand even harder. 

* * *

_CODE LYOKO._

“Now, Ophelia!” she said.

* * *

Ophelia pressed the enter key. There were no instructions, but she hoped it would work again.

A white light immersed everything…

* * *

The spiders converged into a giant massive horde once more, and they pounced towards their mother. She stepped back, dodging them only temporarily--she was running out of room, and the horde was somehow increasing in size every second. But suddenly, everything was white… 

* * *

It was Monday morning. Yumi’s alarm went off, and it was time to get the kids to school. But she had the strangest dream...yet it wasn’t a dream, what had just happened. A return to the past. She nudged Ulrich awake. 

“Huh?” he groggily groaned. 

“Ulrich,” she said. “Do you...uh, do you remember anything recently about spiders?” 

“Huh? What? Is that what this is about? Um, no, I don’t.” 

“Oh…okay,” she said, disappointed. “I just...I guess I just had a bad dream.” 

Ulrich went back to bed, while Yumi stepped out of bed to dress herself for the day, knowing she couldn’t go back to sleep. What she had said to her husband was a lie, though--for one, her dream had been a nightmare, and for another, she was convinced that nightmare had been her reality. Ulrich not recalling the attack puzzled her, yet the signs still pointed in one direction: three returns in the past week, and a XANA attack on top. Something was up. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A classic XANA horde attack--and the OG Lyoko warriors have another encounter with their old enemy, while the new warriors finally learn about XANA and Lyoko. Thanks to everyone who's read this so far and extra thanks to anyone who's left kudos!


	4. Foxtrot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...if my chapters weren't already long, this one is especially long. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter--hope you enjoy.

The minute the last bell rang, Ophelia had sprinted out of her art class--offering an insincere apology to Mr. Gauthier--and quickly made her way up two flights of stairs, sneaking past the shoulders of her fellow students. Her art class was located in the science building’s basement, and her urge to escape was motivated not only by the curious smell that haunted the lower floors of that building, but also an obligation--she, Flynn, and the rest of them had agreed to meet up at the park after classes were finished. They had yet to fill in Hiroki and Viktoria about what had occurred on Lyoko the day before. 

By the time she had landed on the ground floor, caught her breath, and navigated from the science building to the academy’s park, she could see from a distance that the rest of her friends had beaten her. Clearly, they had been lucky enough to avoid making the odysseyial trek she had just endured. 

After an embarrassingly long walk across the field--the flights of stairs exhausted her too much to bother quickening her pace--she arrived at the park bench where they awaited her. Ophelia dropped her books onto the grass and flung her body onto the bench, shoving her brother aside to make room for herself. 

“Hey--ow, Jesus!” he yelled. 

“Move it, Flynny” she said. “So, what’s the word?” 

“You tell us,” Viktoria said. “Flynn mentioned something incomprehensible about a flying jellyfish.” 

“Floating, actually,” he corrected. “And it was jellyfish-esque, wasn’t it?” 

“If I had to categorize it, yeah,” Ophelia agreed. 

“What did this...jellyfish thing...uh, do?” inquired Hiroki. 

“Couldn’t tell you,” she said. “I tried destroying it like any other monster, but it was totally immune to all of my attacks. And then it just...like, grabbed me, like it wrapped its tentacles around me, and then my mind just went blank. I don’t remember anything after that.” 

“It looked like it was brainwashing you,” Flynn said. “Or it was sucking your brains out. There was this red liquid being drained from your head that its tentacles sorta...uh, directed to its brain. Really gross.” 

“Wouldn’t recommend, personally,” she added. She looked back at Cynthia, who stood behind the bench and was observing their conversation carefully. She sometimes had this habit of analyzing their words like this. Ophelia asked her, “What does our resident Lyoko expert think of this?” 

Cynthia chuckled. She retrieved something from her backpack before answering--it was her mother’s diary. “I took the diary from the house for the day,” she explained. “I did some research, reading it between classes and during breaks, trying to find any information about this monster that I could. I struck gold, luckily--my mother has a whole section cataloguing XANA’s different monsters.” 

“Genius genetics,” muttered Flynn. “Turned her diary into a scientific journal.” 

“She’s a doctor, not a scientist,” corrected Cynthia. 

“What did she say about the...jellyfish?” asked Viktoria. 

“It’s called...sorry, this name’s a mouthful.” She flipped through the pages for a moment. “Ah, okay. It’s called the Scyphozoa.” 

“The what?” Hiroki said. 

“Scyphozoa,” muttered Ophelia. “It really flows off the tongue.” 

“Right.” Cynthia took another look at the diary. “I can read what my mom wrote about it, uh…” She cleared her throat, and then said: 

“The Scyphozoa was one of XANA’s most dangerous monsters, and one of his most versatile assets. He employed this monster against us for several uses: first, when he stole the keys to Lyoko from me; then, to brainwash me and cause me to destroy the sectors of Lyoko; and then, he brainwashed me yet again to force me to jump into the Digital Sea. The Scyphozoa has no actual offensive skills. It has no way to devirtualize you or take away your life points. That’s what makes it so unique from the other monsters. Those monsters only aim to devirtualize you. When XANA employs the Scyphozoa against you, he has an ulterior motive. And although it lacks any form of attack, its defense is impervious. In our years battling XANA, not once did one of us succeed in devirtualizing the Scyphozoa. We could only weaken it by cutting off its tentacles that it uses to access your digital data.” 

The group sat in silence for a moment, absorbing the information. Ophelia was trying to put the pieces in her head together. She knew what was most concerning: the ulterior motive. 

Viktoria voiced the same thought: “So what the hell does XANA want with Ophelia?” 

“I’d like to know that as well,” Ophelia chimed in. 

“I have no idea, frankly.” Cynthia shrugged. “Before I read this, I thought the brainwashing was just its own way of devirtualizing her. Now, though…” A skeptical look was scrawled on her face. Ophelia thought of how rarely she saw Cynthia be stumped like this, although she supposed school problems always have a set answer. They had the diary, but there wasn’t any Lyoko textbook with a table of contents to guide them. 

Ophelia looked over at Viktoria and saw she was shaking her head with a sour look on her face. “What’s got you upset?” she asked her. 

Viktoria looked at Cynthia, ignoring the question. “I’m still a bit of a freshman when it comes to Lyoko, so enlighten me. It’s a virtual world, right? Inside the computer in the lab?” 

“Inside the supercomputer, yeah,” Cynthia answered. “The supercomputer’s a giant...uh, hard drive, I guess, located beneath the lab room. The lab computer’s sort of the...how would you say, the interface, that lets us interact with the supercomputer, and the world in it.” 

Viktoria looked at her blankly. She appeared to have absorbed maybe half of those words. “Right,” she said, not confidently. “If we turn off the supercomputer, does Lyoko…?” 

Cynthia paused, taking a moment to understand Viktoria’s implication. “Yeah. Lyoko would disappear. And XANA, too.” 

Hiroki turned towards his sister, seeming surprised by this suggestion. “Are you for real?”

She nodded. “Are you kidding? This is incredibly dangerous. XANA’s already gone for Flynn, for Cynthia, even our parents, for Christ’s sake. Now he’s trying to do something shady with Ophelia, too. I mean, I’ll admit I definitely don’t fully understand the computer stuff, but we just need to shut it down.” 

“We agreed to do it at the end of the week,” Hiroki said. “It’s only been a day.” 

“Yeah, it’s only been a day, and look what XANA did. He nearly killed the principal and our parents. If you guys hadn’t been quick enough, he could have actually done it, or God knows what else. Hiroki, you of all people should understand how dangerous this is.” 

Hiroki slumped over, submitting to his sister. Viktoria eyed the rest of them, waiting for their response. Flynn looked at Ophelia, and she looked at Cynthia. Cynthia looked back at her. 

Ophelia sighed. As much as it annoyed her to hear it from Viktoria, she knew it was necessary. “Viktoria’s right,” she said. “We’re teenagers. We don’t know what we’re doing. We can’t fight some computer program. We have our lives to focus on. We can’t fight XANA like our parents did.” 

She looked at the other three, waiting for their answer. 

“Okay,” Cynthia said, nodding calmly. “We’ll do it.” 

“Tonight?” Viktoria suggested. 

Hesitantly, Cynthia agreed. “Alright. Tonight it is. How about we meet at the factory bridge at 9 p.m.?” 

“Uh, we have dorm curfew,” Flynn reminded her. “10 p.m. sharp. I can’t give Dunbar another reason to kick my ass.” 

“It’ll be quick,” she assured him. “Just a simple push of a button or two, and the supercomputer will be off. We’ll get back to campus on time. Does that work for everyone?” 

The rest of the four nodded in assent. Viktoria smirked, proud to have gotten her way. 

Ophelia suddenly stood up, gathering her things without saying a word. As she strapped her bookbag around her back, her brother asked her, “Where are you going?” 

“To the library,” she said. “Gonna do my homework now. Before we have our meeting at the factory.” 

She didn’t have to turn around to feel the look her brother was exchanging with Cynthia. Viktoria asked her, “Going so soon?” 

Ophelia turned to look at her. She tried to analyze her face, to see whether this obliviousness was genuine. She offered her a simple explanation: “Got a lotta homework already, I guess.” 

Flynn suddenly stood up as well, picking up his bookbag. “I’ll go with you as well.” 

The two of them said their goodbyes to the rest of their group. Ophelia hardly waited for her twin brother to catch up, walking briskly through the field. She heard the rapid pat of his feet against the grass as he jogged to meet her pace. 

“Dude,” he said, exhaling deeply as he finally caught up to her. “Where the hell are you going?” 

“The library,” she answered. “Are you deaf?” 

He scoffed at her. “Okay, Ophelia, don’t be, like, stupid with me. It is the second week of the school year. We share most of our classes. I know you do not have that much homework. What’s got you in a mood?” 

Now it was her turn to play the oblivious part. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Oh, come on. Don’t do this to me.” She kept walking. He kept following, looking at her intently for an answer. When she didn’t crack, Flynn said, “Is it Lyoko? Are you, like, upset about having to shut it down?” 

That halted her in her tracks. Ophelia stopped and turned to look directly at Flynn. There was a look fear in his eyes--he knew he had struck the wrong chord. 

“Flynn, do you think I’m, like, dumb, or something? I’m not an idiot. I’m not upset that we have to shut down the supercomputer that contains the artificial intelligence who’s been trying to kill us and our loved ones. Surprisingly, I’m quite glad about that, actually. It’s just…” She bit her lip, trying to find the words. 

Flynn was patient with her. “Tell me what it is, Ophelia.” 

“It’s just--” Ophelia let out a sigh, the frustration getting to her. “It’s just, you know--this has just been fucked up. It’s been a week since this all started, since Jim kidnapped Cynthia. And I’ve hardly had the time to like...compartmentalize everything. Like, I haven’t had the time to sit down and realize how fucking...crazy, and messed up this is. Like, Flynn, this is some science fiction crap. And it’s only been a week, and XANA’s attacked us like, three times already? And somehow it’s the responsibility of five teenagers to stop him? I mean I’m obviously relieved that we’re shutting it down tonight, but...I just haven’t had a chance to breathe. To think. And now freaking Viktoria is...oh, whatever. That’s not important. It’s just been a bad week. Obviously.” 

Though she felt relieved to have poured that out of her soul, and she trusted Flynn with it more than anyone else, she immediately knew the last part had been a mistake when she read his face. There was a glee little grin forming on Flynn’s face that he always got when he heard the tiniest exciting rumour. 

“I understand that,” he said, offering his sympathies first--the little shit. “I think all of us are feeling that way. But what’s this about Viktoria?” 

She rolled her eyes, and he laughed. “You are such a drama queen,” she said to him. 

“You have to tell me now.” 

She sighed. “Fine, whatever. It’s just, like… Viktoria is someone who’s hardly been in our lives for awhile. Everytime we’ve been to Hiroki’s house, she’s just like this...cool, distant older sister, who’s too good for her little brother’s friends. Which, like, whatever, that’s fine. I’m not heated about that. But now she’s been forced into our lives because of Lyoko, and she’s acting like she knows better than us. Like, yeah, Viktoria, we all understand that Lyoko’s bad for us. You don’t need to be our savior and explain that to us, and dictate what we’re gonna do.” 

Flynn nodded firmly. “I get it, I do. But, hey, look at the bright side--she’s not gonna be in our lives after tonight when we shut the supercomputer down. So this problem will just...disappear.” 

Ophelia smirked. “Yeah, let’s hope it does.” 

* * *

Cynthia had stopped by her house to return her mother’s diary to her bedroom. She had taken it earlier that morning to investigate the Scyphozoa; although it had only been gone for not even half a day, she worried her mother would notice its absence if Cynthia kept it in her dorm for too long. When she’d arrived home, she’d discovered to her luck that both of her parents were away at work. Now she sat in their bedroom, idly fingering the pages of the diary, ready to return it to its abode in the bookshelf at the slightest sign of someone coming home. 

It was funny. Cynthia knew it was imperative to shut down the supercomputer. And although Viktoria’s condescending insistence had rubbed her and the rest of the group the wrong way, they all knew it was equally imperative to shut it down as soon as possible. The attacks targeted towards them were bad enough, but the unanticipated attacks against Viktoria’s and Hiroki’s parents raised the bar even more. Who knew who XANA’s next target could be--it was clear they couldn’t wait any longer. Yet ever since she discovered the diary, Cynthia felt ashamedly curious about Lyoko. She had wondered before who could’ve created this virtual world, but she hadn’t known the answers to her own questions lied in her very house. She hadn’t known this world originated in her own bloodline--in  _ all  _ of their bloodlines.

She was dying to know more. She knew, though, it wasn’t necessary to keep Lyoko alive for that purpose--the diary, she hoped, could answer any question that came to her mind. She cared less about the names of the monsters and their behaviors and attacks--she’d pored over that section during lunch along with a brief glance into information on the virtualization programs--and moreso about the history and lore of the supercomputer. And she figured, while no one was home, she had time to research. She returned to the section on her grandfather, Franz.

_ For the first twelve years of my life, I remained totally in the dark about Lyoko and the supercomputer. I knew nothing about the true nature of my father’s work--only that he was a scientist. Throughout my childhood, he kept himself vigorously busy--either away at work or in his home office. Though I never asked where he worked, I believe now he had been creating the supercomputer at the factory, to fight against Project Carthage.  _

_ I believe Carthage may have been a government-run operation--for when I was twelve, I recall two frightening men in black suits, likely government workers, showed up in my house. My father quickly took me away to the factory and informed me that we had to hide from these men--hide in Lyoko. He hadn’t had the time to explain to me what Lyoko was, but the two of us entered the scanners and virtualized ourselves into the virtual world. For a moment we believed we could hide away in safety, but things quickly went awry. The artificial intelligence that my father had created for the world had gone rogue and turned against us.  _

_ I still don’t know XANA’s original purpose, or what caused him to turn against my father. But because of XANA, our virtual hideout became too dangerous. My father was forced to turn off the supercomputer, indefinitely. For ten years, I was in a virtual slumber--and when the supercomputer was turned back on, I had lost all memory of my life. When I woke up, I believed I was a computer program built into Lyoko.  _

Suddenly, Cynthia heard the front door creak open--her parents were home. She quickly shut close her mother’s diary and returned it to its original spot: behind the dusty old textbook. She heard her parents’ footsteps squeak against the tiled kitchen floor. They weren’t coming upstairs--they probably had no idea she was home--but she couldn’t risk a close call. 

She took a moment to compose herself to appear as casual as possible before announcing her presence to her family. As she descended the stairs, she shouted down: “Mom! Dad! It’s me!” 

“Cynthia?” her father called back. 

“The one and only,” she said as she walked to the kitchen. Both of her parents were unpacking their groceries--they hadn’t been at work like she assumed. Lucky for her, still. 

“What brings you home, hon?” asked her mother. 

“I was just looking for a textbook,” she said, thinking of the quickest lie possible. “I couldn’t find it at school, so I thought I might’ve left it in my room.” 

Her father gave a cursory glance to her empty hands. “Were you not able to find it?” 

_ Crap _ . She hadn’t thought that part through. “Uh...no. I didn’t really search my dorm, so.” 

Her father shrugged it off and returned to the front, retrieving the remaining groceries from the car. Her mother started placing the perishables in the fridge--neither of them paid mind to her story, though there was no reason for them to have their guards up. 

The information Cynthia had just glimpsed from the diary stuck in the back of her mind as she observed her mother. When she had asked her about her grandparents and what it was like for her parents growing up, she never assumed they were hiding anything. Reflecting back on it, though, she recalled how much less information her mother offered than her father. She’d met her paternal grandparents many times--both of them were still alive--and they exchanged many stories about her father’s childhood. Her mother, on the other hand, had only told Cynthia that her own parents had passed away when she was young. She never stated how, or where they came from, or what they did, often dismissing these questions by stating she was too young to remember. Which, perhaps, was true--but there was clearly more her mother knew. 

“Hey, Mom,” Cynthia said. “Where did your parents come from?” 

Her mother closed the refrigerator door, turning her head and saying, “We lived in Villanova for awhile, but before that we lived in the west side of the country.” 

“Where in the west side?” 

“Somewhere in the mountains,” she said. “I was quite young before we moved, so I don’t remember the town’s name.” 

“Why’d they move all the way to Villanova?” 

Her mother gave a simple shrug. “For my father’s work, I believe.” 

Cynthia heard the front door open again as her father came back with the last of the bags. As he entered the kitchen, she continued her line of questioning. “What kind of work would a scientist find in Villanova?” 

For the briefest flicker of a moment, Cynthia saw a discrete glance shared between her parents. But neither of them hesitated in their movements, each moving like clockwork through the kitchen and continuing to unpack their groceries. Carrying on, uninterrupted. Her mother replied quickly: “I don’t really know, Cynthia. Like I said, I was really young. I never asked where he worked.” 

“What’s got you so curious about your grandpa anyways?” her father asked. 

She shrugged. “The twins were talking about their grandparents the other day, and I just thought about how I didn’t know much about mom’s parents.” 

“I can’t say I know much about them either, sweetheart,” said her mother. “I wish I could tell you more.” 

Cynthia nodded--it was clear she wouldn’t get anywhere no matter how hard she pushed. Her mother’s answers appeared so effortless, so natural--if she didn’t know better, Cynthia would have taken it as the truth. Which she had, for the first sixteen years of her life. 

Yet she couldn’t resist one more question. “How did you and dad meet?” 

Another quick reply, this time from her father: “At Kadic, of course. It was during eighth grade.” 

“Well, yeah, you met at Kadic. But like...how exactly did you become friends?” 

For the first time, both of her parents had to ponder on this question. She wasn’t sure whether it had been so long they couldn’t recall, or whether they had to come up with a lie they’d both agree on. 

“I think we met at a club,” her mother said. Her father quickly nodded. “Programming club, wasn’t it?” 

“I think so, yeah,” he agreed. “I was kinda a programming nerd during my time at Kadic--I mean, still am.” 

Cynthia recalled the last few lines of the her mother’s diary entry: how she had woken up from her years-long slumber in Lyoko and believed she was a computer program. Cynthia believed her mother had attended Kadic--she’d seen enough photographic evidence at gatherings with the Della Robbia’s and Stern’s to prove that--but she was also certain her mother’s circumstances were by far anything but normal. How does a girl trapped in a supercomputer escape into the real world and seamlessly merge into the student body of Kadic Academy? And how did her father fit in that picture? 

“What got you into programming?” she asked her father. 

Another question that stumped him. Cynthia tried to maintain firm eye contact with him while appearing as naive as possible. 

“Well, uh, once I met your mother,” he explained, “I kinda got more into programming to uh...impress her, I guess.” 

Her mother laughed at that. “And somehow, he won me over with that.” 

“Gross,” Cynthia said. “Sorry for interrogating you guys. Just nice to know this stuff, I guess. I’m gonna go get my books upstairs and then head back to my dorm now.” 

She quickly left the kitchen and ascended the stairs. She stopped at the top of the staircase and squatted down to listen to what she could hear from the kitchen. The squeaking of moving footsteps, the clattering of plates and silverware being put into place. She couldn’t hear so much as a whisper from her parents. They were either smart enough to wait for the sound of her bedroom door shutting, or they were truly clueless as they seemed. But Cynthia was smart enough to know the latter couldn’t be true. 

A wild impulse ran through her veins, urging her to sneak into her parents’ bedroom and whisk the diary away with her to her dorm. She knew well enough that was too risky. Besides, Lyoko was dying tonight--there was no rush. Once the supercomputer was out of hands, she didn’t need to rush to find the truth. The diary would stay put in her mother’s bookshelf, and after tonight Cynthia would have all the time in the world to find the answers in peace. 

* * *

Viktoria eyed the clock at the end of her bedroom: 5:20 p.m. A little less than four hours until their rendezvous at the factory tonight. Viktoria was well aware that her attitude today had rubbed some others the wrong way--she wasn’t blind. But someone had to put their foot down and make the smart decision. XANA coming for her parents had been the last straw for her. She didn’t understand why he had, but she wasn’t going to wait long enough to find out. 

Before she headed out to the factory, Viktoria needed to attend to her regular teenage activities: homework and dinner. She stuck her head out her bedroom doorway and hollered down the hall: “Mom! What’s for dinner!” 

Her shout was received with silence. She tried again: “Mom!” 

Nothing. Maybe old age was starting to affect her mother’s hearing. She quickly descended the stairs and examined the kitchen and family room. The only living being to be found was her little brother, slouching on the couch. 

“Hiroki, where the hell is Mom?” she asked him. 

With an annoyed look on his face, he let out a typical 14-year-old-boy sigh and shrugged. “I dunno. She left, like, ten minutes ago.” 

“Do you know where she went?” 

He sighed again. It was like every answer was a trying task for him. “I said I don’t know. She didn’t tell me, okay?” 

“Jeez, just asking,” she replied. “What’s got you in a mood?” 

Another halfhearted shrug. “Just tired.” 

Viktoria didn’t buy it for a second. “Hiroki, you look miserable. You look like someone just died.” 

His eyes facing the ground, he mumbled, “Nothing’s wrong, Viktoria. Can you just, like, go back to your room?” 

Viktoria placed herself on the loveseat opposite the couch. “I want to know what’s wrong with my little brother, is that a crime?” 

“It is when you’re being annoying.” 

Hiroki fiddled with his fingers for a moment--clearly he was on the edge of actually telling her something. To try to goad him on, Viktoria took a shot in the dark: “Is it about Lyoko?” 

His eyes stared at her in surprise. She smirked. “Older sister instinct,” she said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood. 

He rolled his eyes, still sulking. “It is about Lyoko, I guess,” he said. “I… it sounds stupid, but I just feel upset about shutting it down.” 

That puzzled Viktoria. “Why are you upset?” 

“I told you, you think I’m stupid for even saying it.” 

“No, no, Hiroki,” she said. “I don’t think you’re stupid. I just want to understand what exactly upsets you.” 

Another melodramatic sigh. “I just…” He laid face-up on the couch, running his hands through his hair, trying to collect his thoughts. “You know, I don’t have classes with any of my friends, I hardly see them during the day...I know, it’s, like, selfish of me to think this way, but Lyoko was really bringing me closer to those guys. And I don’t really have any...hobbies, or whatever, I guess. But Lyoko was...it  _ is _ my hobby. It felt like something I could be passionate about, because it makes me feel important. Like, we’re fighting this evil program that tries to destroy the world--that’s important stuff.” 

Viktoria nodded. She wanted to appear understanding and not dismiss her brother’s thoughts, but at the same time she needed him to realize there were more important things at stake. 

“Hiroki…” she started out, trying to compose her argument. “Listen, I get it. But there’s bigger things going on with Lyoko. XANA is really, really dangerous--not just to us, but to our families. We can’t just treat it like a playground, or some club, okay? It’s important that--” 

“I knew you wouldn’t understand,” Hiroki interjected. 

“Hiroki, I understand how you feel, it’s just--” 

“No, no you don’t, Viktoria. These guys aren’t your friends. You didn’t hang out with us afterward, and after we shut it down, you’re not gonna hang out with us after. Things just don’t matter as much to you as they do to me, so don’t pretend like we’re in the same spot.” 

“Hiroki, come on!” Viktoria defended herself. “That is so not true. I mean, yeah, we weren’t friends before, but I’ve grown to like your friends. I’m not gonna stop talking to you guys once everything’s over.” 

“That is such  _ bullcrap!”  _ Hiroki yelled. “You’re gonna hang out with your same old crew after this. Freaking Daniel and Michelle and Tessa and all those other kids. You have nothing to worry about, so don’t act like you understand, okay? You’ll be totally fine, and you’ll barely acknowledge me or my friends at all during school, just like you always have.” 

Hiroki jumped up from the couch and stormed out of the living room. Viktoria looked back at him as he stomped up the stairs with dramatic flair, and she winced at the sound of his bedroom door slamming shut to his dorm upstairs. The sound of his bedroom door slamming shut made Viktoria flinch. Viktoria wasn’t sure what else she’d expected. While Hiroki looked more like their mother, he had inherited their father’s uncompromisingly stubborn attitude. 

It would have been a lie to pretend Hiroki’s words hadn’t hurt her. She wasn’t dumb--ever since her eighth grade year when her little brother enrolled at Kadic, Viktoria had become aware of the growing distance between them, despite attending the same school. And she couldn’t pretend at least part of the blame wasn’t hers. While Hiroki had struggled to find his footing at the academy, Viktoria flourished academically and socially. She’d planted her roots early on in a tight foursome: Michelle Chalamet and Tessa Baritoli, two childhood friends from the same hometown who graciously took Viktoria under their wing; and Daniel Dunbar, the son of Kadic’s principal. Hiroki resented her friends, and her parents disapproved of them, but Viktoria couldn’t ask for better company. Her parents’ disaffinity for her peers stemmed from their reckless, free spirit lifestyle--a new party one weekend, a spontaneous road trip the next. Every endeavour of theirs was more illicit than the next. Viktoria couldn’t deny that she enjoyed her friends’ lifestyle, and although she tried to hide that part of them from her parents, her friends lacked any opacity and secrecy. 

Meanwhile, she assumed her brother’s resentment stemmed from his own insecurities, and she had hoped that it would have evaporated ever since he settled in with the twins and Cynthia. Their spat in the living room now demonstrated that this problem of his required more tinkering than Viktoria thought. 

And she was sure Hiroki wasn’t the only one who resented her. While she had obtrusively and accidentally infiltrated the Lyoko team, she knew she was an outlier--she wasn’t stupid. Every time they congregated for a meeting, Viktoria could sense the others’ exchanging glances when she spoke up. Especially every time she suggested shutting down the supercomputer. She knew they all agreed with her point, yet they resented her for trying to command them around. Her, who held the least social prowess. Her, who wasn’t an established member of the group. Her, who had  _ left  _ the group. 

Somewhere, up in the top shelf of her closet, was a dusty framed picture. A photograph she’d left untouched for a good few years, yet she was careful never to throw it out. The photograph must have been at least a decade old by now, for she couldn’t have been no more than six years old in it. The picture took place in an unfamiliar living room--Viktoria couldn’t recall which house it was taken in. All three families were squeezed tight on a small brown leather couch. Hiroki was sitting in her lap, a young version of himself so affectionate it would be unrecognizable to the moody teenager she knew today. To her left was Ophelia and Flynn--after all these years of looking at that photograph, Viktoria still couldn’t identify which was which. They had identical haircuts when they were five. And then, to Viktoria’s right was Cynthia. 

Something panged the walls of Viktoria’s stomach--was it guilt? The image of a young Cynthia--with the same bright blonde hair, shining eyes, and signature dimples--conjured up memories of a childhood friendship lost to weathering time. Rarely did Viktoria reminisce about her thicker than blood partnership with Cynthia--for the decade-old memories were not only foggy in her mind, but they never failed to summon that pang in her stomach. Although Viktoria had enjoyed the company of all four of her childhood friends, Cynthia had always been special. They weren’t an especially tightknit group--they were more like distant cousins than best of friends. Yet Cynthia had been different. Viktoria could recall how quickly, how strangely quickly they had declared themselves best friends, to the delight of both of their mothers. Aelita would delightedly sit by Viktoria’s mother on the bench whenever she and Cynthia would play princesses or Pokemon on the playground. 

Viktoria couldn’t remember what had drawn her to Cynthia so quickly and so strongly--at that young of an age, she wasn’t thinking about that kind of stuff. She was more focused on hide-and-seek in the woods in Odd’s backyard, when she and Cynthia chose the same hiding spot and screamed in harmony when Ophelia discovered them in mere minutes. She could recall, however, a few sparse details that managed to float up to the surface of her deep trench of a memory. She remembered how, even then, Cynthia’s bright mind was as clear as day to her, and to the rest of them. Her parents proudly mentioned to any other parent how far ahead Cynthia’s reading level was. Viktoria never envied her best friend for her intelligence--she simply aspired to be like her. She would always ask Cynthia to bring over her newest favorite book the next time she came over. Viktoria would struggle for a good few weeks to finish that book, but she never failed to finish it. 

Life changed, however, and as their parents drifted so did they. At first, Viktoria asked her parents persistently for weeks to go visit Cynthia’s house. Their constant barrage of denials and excuses, along with the passage of time, weathered Viktoria down, and she stopped asking. A good few years passed between their last hide-and-seek session and the next time Viktoria would encounter Cynthia and the rest of their childhood gang, when they joined Kadic Academy. 

She could remember the moment clearly. Cynthia had yet to reconcile with Hiroki and the twins--that would take a year or so. It was merely the first week of school, and like all the other seventh graders Cynthia was trying to find her footing. Viktoria had been sitting in the cafeteria next to Michelle and opposite Tessa and her boyfriend of the year, Percy whoever. Behind Tessa’s back, she spotted a familiar face--a blonde girl, sitting among a large group of unrecognizable seventh graders. She was too focused on listening to Michelle complain about her father’s new curfew rules to really register who this girl was. 

The seventh graders’ table soon dispersed like wildlife, breaking off into fragmented groups as they decided who of their new friends were their actual friends. As Viktoria chugged down a glass of the school’s freshly served tapwater and as Percy bravely suggested to Michelle that perhaps her newly imposed curfew wasn’t totally unreasonable, a clear voice rang in Viktoria’s right ear: 

“Hi, Viktoria.” 

The conversation came to a pause. Tessa and Percy’s eyes glanced upon the seventh grader with twinning curiosity, like scientists discovering a new specimen. Michelle eyed the blonde girl with disdain and offense. Viktoria looked at her with uncertainty. 

She took a moment to swallow the gulp of water trapped on her tongue before saying to the girl, “Uh… Hi there.” 

It became quickly obvious to the seventh grader that Viktoria did not recognize her. She aimed for an imminent recovery: “Oh, it’s me. Cynthia--uh, Belpois. Cynthia Belpois.” 

It took Viktoria, ashamedly, a moment too long to match the name to the face and the hair. Cynthia had been a foundational component of her childhood memories, but it had been so long since Viktoria had thought much about her. Now Viktoria sought her own quick recovery: “Oh! Oh my gosh, hi, Cynthia. I didn’t know you went to Kadic now. Uh, well, these are my friends--Tessa, Michelle, and Percy.” 

Their half-hearted waves and lack of verbal introduction indicated to both of the girls that Viktoria’s friend group was not interested in a lengthy conversation with a seventh grader. Cynthia was bright enough to pick up on this. 

“Uh...yeah, sorry, didn’t want to interrupt. Just wanted to say hi since it’s been awhile, y’know. See you around, I guess.” 

As Cynthia turned her back to their table, Michelle shot a judgmental flick of the eye towards Viktoria, as if to say,  _ You’re associated with that thing? _ The rush of eighth grade paranoia and insecurity got the best of her, and Viktoria hit Michelle back with a nonchalant shrug, replying with,  _ Not by choice _ . Even if she didn’t mean it. 

After that, Viktoria was uncertain if she and Cynthia had ever spoken again until she got sucked into her Lyoko nonsense. And their forced comradery hadn’t done much to reconstruct the bridge they built in their childhood. For Cynthia had constructed at her end of the bridge a tall wall fortified by her guarded attitude. And Viktoria knew any hopes of removing even a brick from that wall would be dashed once the supercomputer was shut down and they all return to their regular routines. Flynn, Ophelia, Cynthia, and Hiroki together in one group, and Viktoria in her own. 

But Viktoria was not the type to put sentimentality before practicality. Saving the world from XANA was more important than her personal worries. She hoped the damage wasn’t bad enough that it took a rogue virus to reconstruct it, anyways. 

* * *

Somehow, Yumi Ishiyama had found herself in the principal’s office of Kadic Academy. It was a room she and her friends had frequented in their time at the academy, and although it had been years since she had last been summoned to the office, the waiting room still nonetheless looked the same. Same chairs, same curtains, same door, same desk, same untouched books lining the shelves--only the secretary and her computer had been updated. She wondered where the tuition she paid was going if they couldn’t bother to replace decades-old furniture. 

At the beginning of her day, Yumi hadn’t expected to end up here. But since the day before paranoia had been eating away at her brain like a parasite--paranoia that an old enemy had risen from the dead. The memories of that spider attack had been too clear, too detailed to have simply been a dream. And the white, blinding flash that had appeared before everything reset--she knew that feeling too well to mistake it for anything else. 

Immediately after questioning Ulrich and receiving a negative answer, she had called Aelita yet again--and the two of them were both certain they had gone through a return to the past. Yumi hadn’t bothered questioning Jeremy or Odd--Aelita had already told her Jeremy also had his suspicions about recent returns to the past, but he had attributed it to deja vu and had gone on a digressive tangent on how the brain will occasionally misfire and trigger these senses of deja vu. Yumi didn’t need to hear a lecture. As for Odd, he lived far from Villanova, far too busy to worry about XANA right now. She didn’t want to sound the alarm until she was certain. And so there was only one other person who had witnessed the attack and whose testimony she could rely on.

And so here she was, at his office. 

“You may come in now,” the receptionist told her. “Mr. Dunbar is ready for you.” 

Yumi saw both the reception room and the office itself had remained the same--only the man behind the principal’s desk had changed, yet he hardly looked any different from his teenage years. Same hair, same face, perhaps a bit taller, and even the same fashion taste--even under the school’s dress code, William donned all dark colors, his blazer, shirts, pants, and tie all varying shades of black. Perhaps this was where Yumi’s tuition went. 

“Hello there,” he greeted her, his voice hardly any different. 

“Hello, Mr. Dunbar,” she said. 

“Oh, don’t treat me like a stranger!” he protested. “Call me William. You remember me, I hope.” 

“It’s hard to forget you,” Yumi responded. She couldn’t count how many years it had been since her last conversation with William. They kept in touch over text during college and even met up during breaks, but as she grew older and life grew busier she had found less time to even text him. Perhaps she had seen him at a class reunion--though she had given up on attending those after the first few--or maybe she had spotted him from a distance when picking up Viktoria and Hiroki from school, but years had passed since they’d last formally talked.

William laughed at her joke. “You’ve still got that...flare in your personality I loved. How are your kids?”

“I’d hope you’d know them pretty well,” Yumi said, ignoring his subtly flirtatious small talk--he really was the same. “But they’re good. Good kids, and good students, I hope.” 

“Oh, absolutely,” William said. “I gotta admit, I’m truly puzzled what’s made you appear at my office unannounced after all these years. I normally don’t accept guests without an appointment, you know.” 

“It’s…” She hesitated. Before continuing, Yumi sat down on the chair across the principal’s desk. “It’s a...weird topic, and it’ll take a while, so I should probably sit.” 

“Oh?”

She nodded. “I have this...this  _ memory _ . At first I thought it was a dream, but it felt so... _ real _ .” 

“What was this memory about?” William inquired. 

“I...I guess I ‘had’ this memory a few nights ago. Yesterday morning, actually. It was...it was, like I said, it was weird. In it, you and Ulrich were attacked by this horde of...horde of spiders. And I knew, in that memory, I knew that those spiders were being controlled by XANA.” 

William’s eyes bulged wide open when he heard that ominous name. “And why have you come to me about this...memory?” 

“Well, at the end of the memory, I was in the basement of the infirmary, with my children. The spiders had broken into the room, and if they had one more second I’m sure we would have died. But then everything just...became white. You could say that was the end of the dream, and that was when I woke up. But I know what that feeling is like. I’m certain that I’ve been through it hundreds of times, that--”

“A return to the past?” 

She nodded eagerly. “And I was certain that that was what it was, that I wasn’t going crazy. So when I woke up, er, ‘woke up’, I asked Ulrich immediately if he remembered anything. But...he had no idea what I was talking about. And ever since yesterday morning he hasn’t seemed like he’s even close to recalling anything at all.” 

“Then it couldn’t be a return to the past.” 

“That’s what I thought. But I’m certain that something happened, and that something was wrong.” 

William nodded, finally getting it. “Ah, so you’re here to--” 

“--ask you if you remember,” she finished, sitting on the edge of her seat.

But, to her disappointment, William shook his head. She sighed, exasperated. 

“I’m sorry,” he said. “But I don’t remember anything. It’s probably just a dream then.”

“Right…” she said, still wanting to believe. 

“I can’t help you anymore. There’s no way XANA could come back, anyway.” 

“But Aelita had a memory just like me, so maybe--” 

“Aelita’s always been plagued by bad dreams and bad memories--Lyoko really did a number on her. I wouldn’t count it for much.” 

She bit her lip, frustrated. But then, another memory came to her.

“Do you remember…” she began. William leaned in.

“Do you remember when you told me,” she said, “about these...dreams you were having? This was in high school, and you told me you were having dreams about us fighting together...and those dreams were actually memories you had, from what happened before you joined us in Lyoko? And even after the return to the past, those memories would come back as dreams?” 

“I...I remember that,” he said. 

“So couldn’t this be like that?” she asked. “Maybe something happened, and-and I remember it still--” 

“Yumi,” he interrupted. “This is different. If there was a return to the past, we would all remember it. Because we’ve all been in Lyoko. I don’t remember anything happening. Neither does Ulrich, according to you. I think it was just a dream, Yumi. That’s all.” 

Yumi put her head down. Not looking at William, she said, “I guess I better get going.” 

Without saying goodbye, she left the building. 

* * *

Viktoria stood at the edge between the park and the woods, awaiting the arrival of the others. She checked the time on her phone: 9:00 p.m., exactly. She had come to the meeting spot twenty minutes early--either because she had nothing better to do, or the thought of shutting down the supercomputer made her too anxious to focus on anything else. She couldn’t decide. She checked the time again: still 9:00 p.m., and no one was here yet. Either everyone had bailed on her, or they were arriving remarkably on-the-dot ontime. 

_ I could just go shut it down right now, by myself _ , she thought.  _ It’s for the good of everyone, so they really don’t have the right to be mad at me about it… _

The sight of two silhouettes in the distance soothed her worries. Viktoria spotted a girl and a boy of the same height pacing quickly across the running track. As she squinted to identify them, she heard a rustle in the bushes behind her. She quickly turned around, on guard, worrying it was the school custodian or a teacher. She was relieved to find it was only Cynthia emerging from the woods. 

“Oh, thank God, it’s you,” she said. 

“I’ve never seen you quite so happy to see me,” Cynthia replied. 

A clear yet subtle enough jab. Viktoria danced around the topic. “Just happy to shut down Lyoko.” 

A stiff silence muffled the air that neither of them deigned to fill. The tension in their relationship became more and more palpable the longer they were forced to hang out. Perhaps shutting down Lyoko was a good thing so they wouldn’t have to endure such silences. Although Viktoria wasn’t the type to address emotional baggage--something she got from her father--she felt a small urge to do so with Cynthia. The urge, however, was small enough to push down. 

She opted instead to fill the silence, if only temporarily: “Are those the twins?” A painfully obvious question. 

“I think so,” Cynthia answered--opting not to point out the simplicity of the inquiry. 

Quickly, Viktoria thought of something else: “You ready to do this? Shut it all down?” 

Cynthia gave a noncommittal shrug, staring off into the black sky and dark blue clouds hovering above the silence building. “Not sure if I’m totally ready. But it’s something we gotta do regardless.” 

At least someone was being rational about it. 

The twins were fully in sight now. Viktoria could overhear their chatter--Ophelia taunting Flynn for something stupid he said, Flynn laughing at something else she said. Viktoria and Cynthia both offered a friendly wave. 

“Well, we ready?” Ophelia asked as they came within earshot. 

“Er, not quite,” Viktoria said. 

“Where’s Hiroki?” Flynn asked. 

She bit her lip, shrugging. “I’m not sure. He seemed pretty upset.” Guilt panged the linings of her stomach yet again as she recalled their conversation earlier today. 

Flynn checked his watch. “It’s 9:02 now. Did he forget?” 

“No.” Viktoria shook her head. “He wouldn’t forget... Let’s just go. Maybe it’s better for him this way, or something.” 

“So, what’s the plan?” 

“The supercomputer is located beneath the scanners,” explained Cynthia. “It basically holds all of Lyoko in it, and XANA. If we shut it down, it’ll shut down XANA, and Lyoko. All we have to do is pull a switch.” 

“Well,” Viktoria said, “There’s no time to waste. Let’s go.” 

Viktoria led the foursome into the woods, heading towards the sewer path. She hadn’t expected this to affect her brother so bad. It wasn’t like it was the end of the world. Keeping XANA alive was more likely to bring about the end of the world. Hiroki would still have his friends and his sister. And his spiel about finding a hobby… He was sensible enough to know there were better hobbies than saving the world. 

Or so she hoped. 

* * *

After twenty minutes of trekking through the sewers, Viktoria and the rest of them reached the end of the underground path: the ladder that led up to the factory bridge was in sight. Viktoria ran ahead of them to climb up the twist open the hatch. As she lifted herself up into the fresh outdoor air, she hoped for some light to free them from the dank darkness of the sewers, but she discovered the bridge was barely any better, only slightly illuminated by the distant streetlight and the passing headlights of the city traffic. 

“Christ, it’s dark,” she muttered to herself. 

Ophelia followed her on the ladder, and responded: “At least the air up here smells better. Every time I walk through those sewers, I’m seriously wondering whether stopping XANA is worth it.” 

Flynn emerged next from the hatch. “Jesus,” he uttered. “I’m taking the longest shower when we get back, good God.” 

Finally, Cynthia climbed to the top of the ladder, closing the sewer hatch behind her. She dusted herself off and said to the rest of them: “Well, tonight’s gonna be our last night in these sewers, thankfully.” 

“Amen to that,” Ophelia muttered. “Besides our sewage scent, we all ready to go?” 

“Uh guys,” said Flynn, pointing to the end of the bridge. “Someone’s waiting for us.” 

Barely visible in the dim nightlight was a short figure standing in the factory’s entry threshold. No features were discernible: not only did the darkness mask its clothes, but its back was turned to the four of them. 

“Shit,” said Ophelia. “Do you think it’s XANA?” 

“Maybe he’s caught on that we’re shutting down the supercomputer,” suggested Flynn. “He’s probably not a fan of that idea.” 

“Let’s approach it cautiously,” said Viktoria. 

Viktoria and Ophelia led the pack, carefully tiptoeing across the bridge. There was only a few yards between them, yet the figure hadn’t so much as turned around. The hairs on Viktoria’s skin were standing up high, anticipating the fight that might come. 

“Alright, XANA,” yelled Ophelia suddenly. Viktoria looked at her like she was crazy--what was she thinking? “Turn around and fight us if you’re not a coward.” 

“What?” the figure asked. Viktoria recognized the voice just as it turned around. 

“Oh my God,” she said. “Hiroki? What the hell are you doing here?” 

The rest of the group let their defenses down. The look on Hiroki’s face was a blend of alarm and confusion. “I decided to come,” he said flatly. “I’m not, like, completely ready, but I also didn’t want to miss out on it. There’s no stopping it anyways, so let’s do it.” 

Viktoria wasn’t sure what to say. This change of heart from her brother was so unlike the stubborn boy she knew--maybe he really was growing up. “Are...are you sure?” she asked. 

“I’m sure. And I’m fine. So let’s do it.” 

Viktoria shrugged--her brother agreeing with her was a rare occasion nowadays, so she was gonna take the opportunities she could get. “Alright, let’s go.” 

The five of them jumped from the balcony onto the ropes and swung down to the lower floor of the factory. In the dead of the night, the sound of their feet landing on the hard floor echoed for any passerby to hear. They quickly filed into the elevator, and Cynthia pressed the button to close the elevator door and descend into the ground. 

As the machinery of the factory clankered clumsily to move the elevator, a silence wavered in the air between them. They had only known Lyoko for barely a week, yet something about laying it to rest cast them all into a somber mood. Perhaps it wasn’t sombriety, but meer anxiety induced by the sheer magnitude of killing a life-threatening computer program.

Ophelia was the first to break the silence, asking Cynthia, “So, uh, did our parents ever shut it down? The supercomputer, I mean.” 

She nodded. “They did, after they thought they destroyed XANA. But something must have gone wrong, obviously… Hopefully we do it right, this time.” 

“Let’s make sure we,” Viktoria agreed, as the elevator opened up to the supercomputer room. She had expected something grander than what they saw: a dark room with no machinery in sight. 

“Are we sure this is it?” Flynn asked. “Where’s the, uh, computer?” 

“This is supposed to be it,” said Cynthia, just as confused. 

Suddenly, the floor began to vibrate as a loud humming noise emanated from the ground beneath them. A circular panel in the middle of the room split into two halves that separated from each other. A glowing light burst out from the newly formed gap, completely illuminating the room. With this light emerged a large machine--a black circular base with a large cylinder protruding in the middle, its yellow panels shimmering with light. The five of them didn’t fully understand what stood before them, but they knew it by name: the supercomputer. 

“Whoa,” Hiroki said. No one else could offer anything more eloquent as they bore witness. 

“This is it?” said Ophelia. “Well, at least it lived up to its reputation.” 

Viktoria was the first to step forward. She could hear the inner machinery at work--the intense vibration within the computer. The simplest thing she could compare it to was an overheating laptop, but she could tell its power far exceeded anything like that. She eyed at the side of its circular base a silver panel with the symbol of XANA, that she had seen on every monster in Lyoko. She flipped open the panel to find a switch. 

“That’s the switch,” Cynthia said. “That’ll turn off Lyoko.” 

Viktoria looked back at her. “You wanna do it? Turn it off? Since you’re, like, the brains of this whole operation.” 

Cynthia smiled proudly. “Sure. I appreciate the offer.” 

The other three stood by close to the elevator, but Viktoria stood at Cynthia’s side. The two of them exchanged a quick smirk. “Say goodbye to XANA.” 

“I’ll miss him dearly.” Cynthia pulled the switch quickly. The humming came to a quick halt, and the illuminated panels powered down. Viktoria waited for another sign, something to signify the grand end of the almighty XANA. 

“Huh,” said Flynn. “Pretty anticlimatic.” 

“Yeah,” agreed Ophelia. “Well...guess we should go now, huh?” 

She pressed the button to summon the elevator one last time. As the metal doors opened back up and the rest of them filed in, Ophelia glanced back at the supercomputer. “Cynthia?” 

Viktoria and Flynn turned their heads. Cynthia’s back was turned to them; she hadn’t moved away from the supercomputer. She was silent. 

As Viktoria began to ask her if anything was wrong, she and the rest of the gang already found their answer. Cynthia crumpled to the floor like a paper doll, her knees folding in and her body falling on its back, limp, lifeless, and drained of energy. The four of them screamed in alarm. Ophelia quickly ran forth and began to shake Cynthia’s body desperately. Viktoria and Flynn stood above her. 

“What just happened?” Flynn asked. “Is she okay?” 

“Cynthia!” exclaimed Ophelia. “Wake up, wake up, come on!” She slapped her in the face with a ferocity Viktoria had never seen from her. Cynthia didn’t so much as wince. As she tried to resuscitate Cynthia, Viktoria realized Hiroki had run over to the supercomputer and flipped the switch back on.

Yet again, before she could ask her brother what he was doing, the answer came to her just as quickly. Cynthia’s eyes suddenly popped open, and she sat straight up and gasped for air. 

“Cynthia!” Ophelia yelled, wrapping her arms around her neck. “Oh, Jesus, you scared me.” 

“W-what happened?” she asked. 

“You passed out,” Flynn said. 

“It was the supercomputer,” Hiroki said. 

Viktoria looked at him skeptically. “What?” she asked. 

“We turned off the supercomputer. Cynthia passed out. It makes sense. I don’t want to test it again.” 

Viktoria sighed. “Hiroki, don’t be--”

“No,” Ophelia said. “He’s right, Viktoria. I think…” 

“It must be XANA,” Cynthia muttered. 

“How could he do this?” Viktoria asked. “Why didn’t the rest of us pass out, if it’s his doing?” 

“I don’t know,” she said. “But I just have a feeling it’s him.” 

“But how could he do that?” she asked her. “ _ Why  _ would he do that?” 

Cynthia searched for an answer, still bewildered by her near passing. “XANA doesn’t want us to shut down the supercomputer. So he...connected me to it, somehow.

“Why would he connect you to it?” Ophelia asked. 

Cynthia looked at her grimly. “It’s a hostage situation. If we kill XANA, I’m going down with him.” 

* * *

Cynthia opened her eyes to the valiant efforts of Ophelia trying to wake her up. After quickly leaving the factory last night, Cynthia had almost instantly collapsed onto her bed. Having her body shut down by the supercomputer had expectedly left her drained of energy. 

“Cynthia, get up.” 

Cynthia rolled away as Ophelia turned on the lamp next to her bed. The piercing yellow light only magnified the pain she was feeling--the headsplitting pain in her forehead, and the fatigue in her limbs. 

“Cynthia, I know you hear me. Get up.” 

She groaned again, stuffing her face into her pillow to escape her roommate. 

“What time is it?” she grunted to Ophelia. 

“6:46,” she said. “I know you’re in pain, but you gotta get up.” 

“I have more than an hour till class.” 

“Yeah, but you have breakfast.” 

“Breakfast starts at 7.” 

“Yeah, but if you want a good breakfast, you better get there quick.” 

Still facing away from Ophelia, she replied, “I think I’ll skip breakfast.” 

“Seriously?” 

She nodded lazily. “And maybe class.” 

Hearing this, Ophelia rolled Cynthia over and forced her to face her. Cynthia cried out as the light coming through the window struck her right in the face. 

“You okay?” Ophelia asked her--no response. “Seriously, Cynthia. I can’t imagine your near death experience felt great. Are you alright? I mean, I’m pretty upset myself.” 

“I’ll be fine, Ophelia,” she assured her. She mustered the energy to sit up in her bed and fully open her eyes. “I’ll just take some ibuprofen and I’ll make it to class in one piece. Besides, what are you upset for?” 

Ophelia hesitated. “I mean, I’m upset that my--one of my closest friends almost died, first of all. And I’m upset at Viktoria--” 

“What are you upset at her about?” 

“She’s the reason we shut down the supercomputer! She could’ve been the reason you  _ died _ , Cynthia.” 

“But she isn’t, Ophelia. She didn’t know that would’ve happened. How could anyone?” 

“But she was being reckless.” 

“She was the only one of us thinking with her head! It was the right thing to shut down the supercomputer. Why are you so critical of her?” 

“Who says I’m being critical?” 

Cynthia scoffed. “I’m saying it, right now.” 

Ophelia rolled her eyes. “Literally everyone is critical of her, even her own brother. And can you blame us? She’s not our friend, she just forced her way into this group, and now she’s acting like the boss of us. You of all people I’d expect to be mad at her.” 

That made Cynthia stand straight up. “Okay, what does  _ that  _ mean?” 

She hesitated. “I mean, come on, she used to be your--your best friend.” Those two words came out of her tongue with hesitance--a scowl formed on her face as she enunciated each syllable. 

Cynthia shook her head in disbelief. “Ophelia, I’m not gonna hold a grudge against her for something from my-- _ our  _ childhood. I mean, do I miss being friends? Yeah. But life changes a lot. I don’t need you to stand in my place and be so... _ jealous  _ of her.” 

“ _ What?”  _

Cynthia avoided the question, brushing past Ophelia to get to her closet. She grabbed the first pair of shoes she saw and put on the first presentable items of clothing she could wear outside of the dorm. 

“Forget about it,” Cynthia said. “I need to go home, anyways.” 

“You’re not coming to breakfast?” 

She shook her head. “Anything my mom makes is a hundred times better than what the cafeteria can stir up. I need to do some more research. Clear my head.” 

Ophelia clearly wanted to continue their conversation, but Cynthia wouldn’t let her. She grabbed her key before leaving the dorm and called back to Cynthia, “Tell me if you find anything from the diary, okay?” 

Cynthia gave her a simple nod. The door shut behind her. She instantly regretted the argument they fell into, even though she believed everything she said. The rest of them--Flynn, Hiroki, but especially Ophelia--all resented Viktoria’s presence in their group. Cynthia thought it was reasonable, yet she didn’t share that resentment. She had appreciated her memories with Viktoria, but she was happy enough with the group she had. Most of all, though, she regretted the jealousy remark--yet Ophelia knew it was true. Ophelia was clearly her best friend, and over the years she had become fiercely protective of Cynthia to the point of overreactive jealousy. She wanted to protect Cynthia not only against her enemies but against other friends--Ophelia’s fellow competitors. The former friendship between her and Viktoria clearly threatened her. Ophelia’s loyalty was faithful to the end, but sometimes Cynthia wished she could switch to a lower key. 

She couldn’t think too much about it, however. She only had an hour to make it to her house and back. Yesterday she had been content with only a few paragraphs, but the events of last night had left her curiosity unquenched. Too many questions about Lyoko and XANA wandered in her head unanswered, and there was only one item in the universe that could put her wondering mind at ease. 

* * *

At half past seven, Cynthia arrived at her house to no cars in the driveway, meaning nobody was home, much to her luck yet again. She only needed to make a quick stop: she’d infiltrate her parents’ bedroom and stash the diary into her backpack. She didn’t have the leisure to rifle through its pages at the moment; class started in a half and hour, and she’d need all the remaining time to book it back to Kadic. 

As she cautiously opened the front door to her home, she peaked her head through the crack just to make sure. The house was empty--neither of her parents’ set of keys were hanging on the coat rack, which usually meant they were gone. Cynthia quickly closed the door behind her and bolted up the stairs and to the bedroom. 

Her parents’ bookshelf appeared untouched since yesterday, and the diary was right where she had left it: behind the dusty leather book. She plucked it from its spot and unzipped her backpack. As she dropped the diary amongst her textbooks, she felt a vibration in her pocket--someone was calling. A wave of worry briefly surged through her as she feared it might have been her parents, but when she retrieved her phone from her jeans the identity of the caller was a relief, though still perplexing: Ophelia. 

Cynthia was not in the mood to address what they had discussed not even an hour ago, but she picked up the call just in case it was XANA-related. She put Ophelia on speaker and said, “Hello?” 

“Where are you? I just came to our dorm and you’ve disappeared on me!” 

“I’m…” Quickly, she tried conjuring up some lie, but her mind was drawing a blank. “I told you, I’m at my house.” 

“What?! Class starts in 30 minutes, Cynthia.” 

“I just needed to...uh, to get something. I’m leaving right now ” She strapped the backpack around her shoulder and exited the bedroom, daintily shutting the door behind her with caution. 

“Is it the diary?” Ophelia asked. 

“You know me so well,” she said, smirking. 

“Ugh. Just...get back here in time.” 

“I will,” she assured her. “Don’t worry about it. I’m walking down the stairs right now.” 

“Good. And, Cynthia, I’m sorry about...what I said, earlier. I know, I know you’re right, and I was being unreasonable. I mean, you know how I get. It’s just, I’m hesitant to let Viktoria in, and maybe I am a little...jealous, I don’t know. I just don’t want you to be mad at me.” 

“Ophelia, it’s okay,” she said. “I’m not mad at you--it’s just one little fight. Not like we’ve never had one of those before. I understand, your emotions were heightened because, well, I did almost die. But I won’t--”

Just then, the doorbell rang. Cynthia froze, her heart stopped, and her mind was racing. Her parents. 

“Cynthia?” said Ophelia. “I can’t hear you all of a--”

“Someone’s at the door,” she answered. “I think it’s my parents.” 

She peaked down through the bars of the stairway banister and tried to identify which of them it was through the blurry glass window of the front door. Yet the figure was unfamiliar--neither of her parents were at the door. A man donning a black suit and sunglasses stared straight the glass. 

“Cynthia? You’re not talking. I’m worried.” 

“I have no idea who it is,” she replied. “Some, like, fancy guy in a suit.” 

“Well, don’t answer it,” said Ophelia. “Why would you let a man you don’t know into your house?”

“I kinda need to get back to school, though,” Cynthia said. “And that’s the only way out of my house. I’m gonna put you on mute, but I’ll keep you on...just in case something happens, okay?” 

“Why would you--fine, whatever. Just...be careful, Cynthia.” 

Cynthia put Ophelia off speaker and placed her phone in her pocket and her backpack at the top of the steps, and she descended down the staircase, scanning the man’s appearance as she did. When she reached the hallway downstairs she briskly walked over to the front door and opened it. The man stood before her, towering over Cynthia by at least a foot. He had sickly pale, white skin and blonde hair buzzed like a soldier. 

“Is this the residence of Jeremy and Aelita Belpois?” he asked. 

“Um, yes,” she said. “I’m their daughter. Cynthia Belpois. They’re not home.” 

The man exhaled loudly like an angry bull. He said nothing. 

“Who are you?” Cynthia asked him. 

“I am a government agent. I’m legally obligated not to give out my name.” 

Her grip tightened on the doorframe, ready to shut it at the slightest alarm. What the hell was a government worker doing here? 

“Hm,” she said. “What do I call you, then? Mr. Government Agent?” 

He sighed. “Call me Foxtrot. May I come in and ask a few questions?” 

He was already leaning into the threshold, suggesting she didn’t have a choice. “Don’t you need a warrant to come into a civilian’s house, Mr. Foxtrot?” 

Even through the opaque shades of his sunglasses, she could tell Foxtrot was glaring daggers at her now. “We have footage of a group of children lurking about in a nearby factory, and we believe they’re involved in some illicit activities, and we believe we’ve successfuly identified one of the children as you.” 

_ Shit _ . This man was for real. Cynthia was terrified. She tried maintaining her best poker face. “I thought you were looking for my parents, Foxtrot. I don’t see why you would need to come into their house and interrogate a child about something else.” 

“If you refuse me entry,” Foxtrot said, crouching down to her eye level. “I will come back with a warrant, and with more forces. And I can’t promise they’ll be as diplomatic as I have been.” 

She stepped down and opened up the door to him--she knew she’d be fighting a losing battle otherwise. “Well, come in, Foxtrot.” 

He smirked pompously, stepping through the doorway. Cynthia led him to their kitchen for the questioning, patting her hand against the weight of her phone in her pocket--she hoped to God that Ophelia was still listening. 

“So,” Foxtrot said as he sat down at the kitchen table, removing his sunglasses. “What were you doing in the factory?” 

“Hanging out.” 

“You hang out with your friends in abandoned factories?” he asked. 

“Yep.” 

Cynthia wasn’t sure how much this guy really knew. But her mind was running through dozens of theories right now--was the  _ government _ , or whoever this man worked for, somehow involved with XANA, and the supercomputer? She didn’t want to reveal to him any more than he knew, so she only offered him simple, succinct answers. 

“We also have footage of you going in the elevator,” he said. “Where did you and your friends go from there?” 

She bit her lip. She couldn’t lie her way out of this. His eyes were unwaveringly focused on hers. 

“Cynthia?” he said. She still didn’t answer. 

“I know what you were up to,” he told her. “If you confess now, you can get yourself out of trouble.” 

“We weren’t up to anything,” she insisted. “Just exploring.” 

“I’m promising you this, Cynthia,” he said, reaching a hand out to reassure her. She pulled her arms away and stared down at her feet. She quickly retrieved her phone from her pocket. Ophelia hadn’t hung up on her, thank God--how much she could hear, though, was another question. 

“Who are you on call with?” Foxtrot asked her, reaching for her phone. 

She slapped his hand away--not a good move from the look on his face. “I was calling my friend earlier,” she explained. “I forgot to hang up.” 

“Was this friend at the factory with you?” 

“No,” she said stubbornly. 

“I think you’re lying to me, Cynthia.” 

“And I think you’re a piece of--ow!” She suddenly dropped her phone--it had suddenly started emitting sparks and shocked her. Her confusion was a moment later replaced by terror--she’d seen this scene before. 

“Oh my God,” she said to herself. “XANA.” 

“What?” Foxtrot asked, standing up. Cynthia couldn’t give him an answer, though. The black spectre emerged from the electrified remnants of her phone, hovering in the air and observing its territory. Foxtrot reached into the inner pocket of his suit jacket to retrieve something--a weapon, perhaps--but the spectre hurled towards him. Foxtrot dropped the gun as the spectre entered his body. He screamed for only a moment before his eyes went white. 

“Ophelia!” Cynthia cried out, but when she looked down, her phone was absolutely ruined, cutting off her call. Cynthia looked into Foxtrot’s eyes: his pupils were gone, and she only saw the Eye of XANA in them.

* * *

The call had been cut off in the middle of their conversation, but Ophelia had heard Cynthia’s last word: XANA. That was enough to know. 

She sprinted out of her dorm and threw herself down the stairs. As she exited the dorm building into the commons area, she heard a teacher warn her to stop running--she didn’t care. She made a bee-line through a crowd of students who gave her weird looks--again, she didn’t care. She only cared about making it to the cafeteria. 

As she burst through the cafe doors, heads turned towards her. Her hair was a ruffled mess, she was still wearing her pajamas, and she was completely out of breath. Flynn and Hiroki stared at her with wide eyes. 

She walked over to her table, ignoring the judgmental looks coming her way, and leaned down towards them and whispered: “XANA is attacking.” 

“What?” Hiroki asked through a mouthful of bread. 

“XANA’s launched an attack. At Cynthia’s house. She just called me.” 

“What’s the attack?” Flynn inquired. 

“Not sure--she hung up on me. But I could hear there was a man inside her house, and I think that has something to do with it.” 

“So, the factory?” 

“But what about class--” started Hiroki. 

“We have no choice,” interjected Ophelia. She looked across the cafeteria: at the other side of the room sat Viktoria between Daniel and Michelle. “You guys go ahead.” 

Flynn and Hiroki quickly scarfed down the remainder of their food, while Ophelia approached Viktoria’s table. Viktoria’s companions looked at her oddly. 

“Can we talk?” Ophelia asked. 

Viktoria muttered an excuse to her friends. Ophelia guided her outside of the cafeteria, where they could talk comfortably out of anyone’s earshot. 

“It’s XANA,” she said. “He’s after Cynthia.” 

“Shit,” she cursed. “Okay. Where are they at?” 

“Her house. Flynn and Hiroki are already on their way.” 

She nodded. “Alright--how about I join them, and you save Cynthia?” 

Ophelia smiled--she was glad they had the same plan in mind already. “That’s good with me.” Just as she started to run off towards the campus gate, she took one more look at Viktoria. “Uh… Good luck on Lyoko.” 

She smiled back at her. “You too, Ophelia.” 

* * *

The possessed Foxtrot slammed his foot onto Cynthia’s phone, grinding it into bits and dust. She ducked as he attempted a swing at her, and she countered by pushing one of the kitchen table chairs towards him. He fell to the ground but stood right back up as if it was hardly a scratch. 

Cynthia stood up and began to back away out of the kitchen towards the front door. Foxtrot shot a stream of lightning directly towards her. She ducked again, hearing the glass of the front door shatter into bits behind her--pedestrians passing by her house gasped in alarm. As Foxtrot charged towards her, his eyes glowering with XANA’s sign, she grabbed a vase sitting on top of a vanity table and hurled it, making direct contact with his forehead. He fell to the ground, temporarily disabled--his body began glitching and pixellating. 

She made a beeline to the door and flew out into the street. She quickly scanned her options. Ahead of her was the street filled with traffic blaring at fifty miles an hour, and past that the river--and in the horizon the factory. If she took a right she could sprint to Kadic and warn the others, but the odds of her outrunning a possessed government agent didn’t seem favorable to her. Taking a left would take her to the factory bridge--her best option. 

She had pondered her options for too long--suddenly, she felt two arms wrap around her from behind. As pedestrians screamed in horror, Foxtrot lifted her body into the air, growling with fury. Cynthia wriggled her body to escape and screamed for help, but the bystanders simply stood by and watched. She tried kicking Foxtrot in the face, but XANA’s grip on his brain was tight, and he hardly even winced. 

Suddenly, though, Foxtrot’s body static yet again. Cynthia’s body fell straight to the concrete sidewalk. A few of the bystanders began to ask her if she was okay, but only one person came forward to help her up: Ophelia. 

“You okay?” she asked her, grabbing her hand. 

“To be honest, the fall hurt more than anything,” she said. “So thanks for that.” 

“Count your blessings, okay? Would you rather get electrically tortured?” 

Even in times of terror, Ophelia made her laugh. But Cynthia knew they had to focus on the mission: “Alright, let’s head to the factory.” 

The two girls ran off, penetrating the crowd of confused spectators. Some called for them to stop, but neither gave any heed to them. 

“So, mind telling me what’s happening?” Ophelia asked as they ran, raising her voice over the sound of strangers’ chatter and the blaring car horns. 

“Where do I start?” she said. “He’s a government agent, and his codename is Foxtrot. He knows about the factory and he knows I’m involved, and things got even worse when XANA possessed him.” 

“Great. We better hurry, then.” 

The sound of screeching tires and panicked honking put a halt in their tracks and turned their heads. Traffic had come to a complete stop. Foxtrot had recovered from his injury and was running through the street. One car barrelling straight towards honked, rubber screaming against concrete as it attempted to brake. Foxtrot didn’t even so much as flinch as the car passed right through his body, onlookers gasping. 

“Jesus,” uttered Ophelia. “What’s he doing?” 

Cynthia shook her head, clueless. He wasn’t heading towards them, yet he wasn’t heading towards the factory, either. He was making a direct beeline from her house, across the street, towards… 

“The river,” she said. 

“What? What about it?” 

“He’s going to the river.” 

“For what? A swim?” 

“Your guess is as good as mine.” 

The swarm of cars came to a stop, drivers and pedestrians alike all observing Foxtrot march on his path. With the road clear, Ophelia ran to the other side of the street, Cynthia quickly taking note and following her. Foxtrot hardly acknowledged their presence, unthreatened. The three of them landed on the sidewalk simultaneously, and the two girls stood apprehensively as they waited for his next move. Foxtrot’s face was blank and betrayed none of his intentions, but they could tell he was eyeing the fence. And beyond the fence--a straight drop into the river below. 

Cynthia gasped as she realized XANA’s plan. Foxtrot began to lift one leg over the fence, and Cynthia sprinted towards him and tackled him onto the ground. Foxtrot groaned and swung at her. To her own surprise, she caught his punch in her palm, and she swung back at him and knocked him in the temple. 

“What are you doing?” Ophelia yelled at her. 

“XANA’s trying to kill him,” she explained. “She’s trying to throw him in the river and...make him drown, I don’t know.” 

“Why are you saving him? He knows about the factory.” 

A fantastic question--Cynthia herself was still trying to understand the nuances of XANA’s plan, which was a task hard to balance with fighting off a six foot man. 

She stood up, taking two steps away from Foxtrot’s body. “He’s a threat to us, yeah. But if XANA wants him dead, then he’s a threat to XANA, too. And I don’t wanna help XANA out more than we need to.” 

“So what do we do?” Ophelia asked. 

Cynthia sighed. “I need to go to Lyoko and deactivate the tower,” she said. “You need to stay here and keep him alive.” 

“What?!” she exclaimed. “I can’t do that by myself. He can easily kill me.” 

More and more pedestrians were beginning to congregate, intrigued by the scene before them. Cynthia eyed some of them taking pictures with their phones. It was clear it was gonna get hard to escape the more people were watching. 

Cynthia placed her hand on Ophelia’s shoulder. “I have to go. I’ll send Flynn to help you, okay?” 

The look on Ophelia’s face lacked confidence, but she nodded nonetheless--she always trusted Cynthia’s plans, just as Cynthia trusted hers. Cynthia ran off towards the bridge, hoping to whatever deity out there that Ophelia could fend herself long enough. 

* * *

Viktoria stood at Flynn’s right and Hiroki at his left, analyzing the various windows displayed on the computer monitor. All types of programs were running on screen, their function beyond the comprehension of any of them. 

“So, you don’t understand any of this?” Hiroki asked Flynn. 

“How can I?” he said. “The only time I used this computer, my memory ended up getting wiped, so I’m back to square one.” 

“They don’t, like, teach you how to do this in your computer club?” 

“The programming club is severely underfunded, first of all, and no, they do not teach us how to operate a supercomputer.” 

“What the hell do you do, then?” 

“Can you just, like, start pressing buttons?” asked Viktoria. 

He looked at her like she was insane. She shrugged back at him. “Just spitballing ideas.” 

From behind, she heard the elevator doors creak out. All three of their heads turned as Cynthia entered the laboratory--her clothes disheveled and her hair a ruffled mess. 

“Mind telling us what’s happening?” asked Flynn. 

“Government agent possessed by XANA attacked me and Ophelia,” she said. “And now he’s trying to drown himself.” 

“XANA’s trying to drown...himself?” 

Cynthia sighed. “I’ll explain more after we deactivate the tower. Flynn, your sister needs help fighting him off. I can start up a self-virtualization program for me, Hiroki, and Viktoria, and you can head out. They should be at my house.” 

Flynn hopped out of his chair, not one to question her orders, and walked over to the ladder. “Good luck, guys,” he shouted as he ascended to the upper floor. 

Cynthia took his place in the chair and began rapidly typing. A new window appeared, displaying what appeared to be an activated tower with information on its region and location. A second window popped up, and a timer began to count down. 

“You know how to do that?” Hiroki asked, impressed. 

“I’ve been doing my research,” she said, jumping off the chair and heading towards the elevator. 

Viktoria filed into the elevator behind her brother, and they descended down into the scanner room. As the elevator creaked against the metal walls of the shaft, Cynthia looked at her and asked, “Second time on Lyoko. You ready?” 

She gave her most confident nod, unsure how much she believed it. “Practice makes perfect.” 

As the doors opened up to the scanner room, Cynthia beamed at her. “That’s the attitude I like to hear. Let’s get this done quickly.” 

* * *

Yumi blared her horn at the car in front of her. “What kind of idiot tries to switch lanes two feet ahead of me?” The driver gave a quick middle finger. She rolled down her window and returned the favor. 

Traffic had come to almost a complete halt in the past ten minutes. Yumi guessed she had, at best, moved a couple feet since then. For the life of her, she had no idea what was causing this traffic jam. Behind her, the line of cars extended for a few more blocks, and ahead of her she could spy a large crowd at the riverfront. Near Aelita and Jeremie’s house, she noted. 

Her conversation with William had bore no fruit. Two denials from two key witnesses--in anyone else’s eyes, that would be damning proof that the XANA attacks hadn’t been real. But Yumi was stubborn, particularly when it came to arguments. When she argued something she really believed, she didn’t back down. Despite William and Ulrich’s testimonies, she still believed something was up. 

There was one last place she could go for proof. She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t gone here already. She never understood the inner workings of the supercomputer the way Aelita or Jeremie had, but she knew one thing well enough: if the returns to the past were really happening, the supercomputer had to be turned on. If, when she went down the elevator, and the supercomputer wasn’t on, that would close the case, and Yumi would be grateful that her suspicions were wrong. But she wouldn’t rest until she could be certain. 

The factory was her current destination, but it was improving impossible to get there by car. The drivers near her were growing restless and irritated, some abandoning their cars on the street, while the passing pedestrians were curiously eyeing the growing crowd. It didn’t look like her car’d be driving anywhere for awhile. She unbuckled her seat belt and put her car in park before disembarking. The driver who switched lanes like a maniac honked at her as she walked in front of him. She gave him the finger yet again. 

She navigated her way to the riverfront-side sidewalk and briskly paced over to the crowd. It was getting denser by the minute, and she noticed many of them were recording something with their phones and cameras. It even looked like the local news reporters had caught wind of the commotion, as she saw a woman at the back of the crowd talking into a microphone and facing a cameraman. 

As Yumi nudged her way through the crowd, muttering apologies as people unwillingly moved out of the way, she began to hear what was catching everyone’s attention. It sounded as if there was a fight happening near the river. She heard the exchange of cries between a man and a young girl. 

Suddenly, people began to scream--a crackling sound boomed in the air. For a moment, Yumi feared the worst; but no, that wasn’t a gun, yet it sounded awfully familiar. She eavesdropped on someone’s conversation--something about lightning? 

She made her way to the front of the crowd. A tall man wearing a suit and tie was exchanging blows with a young girl. She couldn’t be older than a high schooler, Yumi thought, why on earth were they fighting? She was clearly losing, and exhausted. She charged towards him, an attack he dodged with an easy sidestep. He turned around and suddenly shot a stream of lightning towards her. 

The crowd screamed again. Yumi gasped. “No,” she whispered to herself. It couldn’t be. 

The young girl barely dodged the attack, and the lightning singed the concrete of the sidewalk. Yet she crumpled to the ground regardless, seemingly to catch her breath. Yumi noticed how oddly familiar she looked. Odd, indeed. She could see her eyes, her nose, even the clothes she wore looked a little--

“Ophelia?” 

The girl’s head toward the crowd, terrified by the recognition. Yumi locked eyes with Ophelia--and her eyes became even wider. Yumi broke away from the crowd and stepped into the ring. 

She crouched down towards Ophelia, eyeing her body for any serious injuries as she did. “What the hell are you doing?” she asked her frankly. 

Ophelia shook her head in fear. “Please, I swear, do not tell my dad.” 

“Who is this man?” 

A deep sigh. “I honestly couldn’t tell you.” 

Yumi looked over at the man, dusting off his suit jacket. She looked into his eyes and saw exactly what she expected: the Eye of XANA. 

She didn’t need the supercomputer. That was proof enough. 

The cat was out of the bag. Yumi looked down at Ophelia and said, “How long have you known about Lyoko?” 

The hesitance to reply, the uncertainty in her eyes--she knew for sure. Suddenly, Ophelia rose up and ran towards the man, the crowd gasping again. Yumi looked back up and saw the man was trying to climb over the fence into the river. Before she could even understand why, Ophelia tackled the man down into the ground, the two of them grunting in unison. 

“Ophelia!” another voice cried. Her head shot up, and as she was distracted the man shoved her off of him, her body rolling into the street. Yumi looked for the voice’s owner. She saw a young boy running down the street towards Ophelia and the man--oddly familiar as well. It clicked more quickly for her this time. 

“Flynn,” she said. 

He stopped right in his tracks, looking at Yumi with the same terrified expression as his sister. 

“She knows, Flynn,” his sister called out from the street. 

Yumi and Flynn walked towards Ophelia, the two of them both helping her stand up. As she grabbed Ophelia’s left arm and Flynn her right, Yumi whispered towards the two twins: 

“Once we’re done dealing with this guy, I’m gonna need to talk to you two and my kids.”

* * *

Cynthia was the last to virtualize, landing between Viktoria and Hiroki. As she gathered her bearings, she realized they had landed in a new sector. She recalled the name from her mother’s diary: the mountain sector. The sky was a clear, vibrant blue in this region, filled with grey platforms dotted with towering rocks and mountains. They had landed among a circle of rocks that hid them from view. She could see their platform was largely isolated barring two pathways, bridges on opposite sides of the platform that each stretched into the horizon towards more mountains. 

“Well, this is new,” said Hiroki. 

“Where’s the tower?” asked Viktoria. 

“Crap,” uttered Cynthia. She realized she hadn’t taken the time to read the data on the computer close enough. She had no idea where the tower was relative to their location. 

“You forgot?” asked Hiroki. 

“I was rushing, in my defense. Ophelia and Flynn can’t fight off Foxtrot forever.” 

“Foxtrot?” said Viktoria. “Never mind. We need to focus and come up with a plan.” 

“What’s our best option? Just exploring the region or what?” 

“Finding the tower in this region would be like finding a needle in a haystack,” said Cynthia. “That’d take forever.” 

“Quiet!” Viktoria suddenly yelled, ducking down to the ground. “Get down. You hear that?” 

Cynthia and Hiroki crouched down with her, listening intently. They could hear the sound of two monsters approaching their platform from one of the bridges. She stuck close to the rock, hoping it would hide her from view. The mechanical movement of the monster’s legs came closer and closer. 

“Those sound like Krabs,” she whispered. 

The monsters moved past the circle of rocks, oblivious to their presence. There were three of them, walking in line towards the other bridge. 

“Are they, like, patrolling the region?” whispered Hiroki. 

Cynthia shook her head. “No. I think they’re guards. XANA must be sending them to his tower.” 

They rose from their crouched positions. Cynthia rose her hand, signalling to wait until the Krabs were far enough. 

“We’ll follow from a distance,” she explained. “Hopefully, these will lead us where we need to be, and then I can deactivate the tower.” 

Hiroki and Viktoria both nodded. Once the sound of the Krabs grew quiet as the distance between them increased, Cynthia led their trio, keeping one hand on the orb of her staff just in case as they carefully followed the monsters down the bridge. 

* * *

Yumi’s worst fears had been confirmed now, if they hadn’t been already. The evidence had already been hard to dismiss. The spider attack that she wished was a dream, the returns to the past that Aelita confirmed, and now yet another attack. And the kids knew. Odd’s kids, likely her own kids, maybe even Aelita’s daughter, and who knew who else. Their own children were fighting against their worst enemy. 

The twins were speechless. Ophelia hardly had enough energy to speak, while Flynn seemed too shocked to utter a word. Yumi wished they could discuss XANA and Lyoko at this moment, but whoever XANA had possessed prevented that. 

Once Ophelia was able to stand back up on her two feet, she asked the two of them: “I have a few questions. Do you know who this man is?” 

Flynn shrugged, but his sister had an answer: “He’s some government agent that came after Cynthia. Name’s Foxtrot, I guess. Codename, that is.” 

So Cynthia was in on it too. It was unclear how the government agent fit in the picture, but perhaps he was just a passerby who ended up as XANA’s tool. 

“Another question,” she said. “Do my kids know?” 

Flynn nodded, avoiding eye contact with her. “They’re at Lyoko right now. With Cynthia.” 

“One more thing,” said Ophelia. “Cynthia thinks XANA is trying to kill this man--have him drown in the river. That’s why he’s been trying to climb the fence.” 

“Why would XANA want to get rid of this man?” she asked her. 

Both of them shrugged simultaneously--they didn’t have all the answers, it seemed. Ophelia said, “But Cynthia said if XANA wants him dead, we need him alive.” 

“That’s good thinking on her part,” said Yumi. She looked towards the river--the man was beginning to walk back to the fence. “Let the pro handle this, okay? You kids stay out of this fight.” 

Ophelia nodded--with how banged up the man had left her, she didn’t seem eager to jump back in just yet anyways. Flynn nodded as well, seeming too nervous to engage with him. Yumi left them in the street and ran towards the possessed agent. She’d seen a similar scene before in her time--she recalled one day where men in black came to Kadic only to be possessed by XANA. She could tango with Foxtrot. 

The man began to climb over the fence yet again. Yumi called out to him: “Hey XANA! Miss me, much?” 

The man turned his head--was there a look of recognition in his eyes? The sight of her seemed to anger him enough to draw him away from the fence, and he slowly began to walk towards her, any recognition washed away by his fury. His fingertips began to crackle with electricity. 

He shot a jolt of lightning towards her. Yumi sidestepped and rolled towards him. Foxtrot swung his leg at her, and she dodged his kick and punched him straight in the abdomen. He fell down, crying out in pain. Yumi could feel the adrenaline begin to rush through her veins, and the muscles in her body reactivating as her body remembered how to fight once again. 

“You’re gonna have to do better than that, tough guy.” 

* * *

Cynthia’s gut feeling was right. They had tracked the Krabs' paths for a good few minutes, taking them to a large platform. Two large mountains formed a wall with only a small gap in between allowing passers-by entry. Through this gap they could see the tower. A small bridge connected to a small island floating above the blue sea, the island just big enough to hold the tower, glowering with XANA’s red aura. 

The three of them were hiding behind the two mountains. The Krabs had stationed themselves at the bridge’s entry, allowing no one to pass by. Cynthia, Viktoria, and Hiroki were considering their options. 

“So we can’t get to the bridge,” said Viktoria. “We could just charge at them.” 

Cynthia shook her head. “We only have melee fighters against their lasers. They could easily shoot us down.” 

“I could float my axe and strike one of them down.” 

She considered it for a moment. “They would see the axe coming, that wouldn’t work.” 

“At times like these, I wish we had the twins to fly,” Hiroki said. 

“The Krabs would take them down,” said Cynthia, shooting down even hypothetical solutions. 

“Alright, what ideas do you think are  _ good _ ?” Viktoria. 

Cynthia glared at her. “Look, I’m not trying to be annoying, I’m just trying to make sure we don’t instantly get devirtualized, okay?” 

She gripped her staff, observing the pink orb at its end and considering her options. Viktoria and Hiroki waited for an answer. 

“We might use your ideas,” she said. “First, we’ll pull off a sneak attack.” 

She peaked around the mountain, holding her staff in her left hand. The Krabs took no note of her, too far away to spot her. She pointed her staff at the Krab in the middle. A white light surrounded its body until it suddenly exploded. The Krabs glanced at each other in alarm. They surveyed their surroundings, looking for the attacker--and then they both locked their eyes on Cynthia. 

She ran out from her cover behind the mountains into the open, shouting back, “Viktoria, axe them!” The Krabs, unaware of the other two’s presence, focused their fire on Cynthia, their shots just barely missing her feet as she ran to the edge of the platform. As she reached the cliff she stopped her tracks, quickly turned around, and created a shield with her staff. The Krabs continued putting pressure on her. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the axe slowly floating through the air, hovering towards the Krabs. The monsters had turned their bodies towards Cynthia, though, and Viktoria’s weapon was outside of their peripheral vision. She was running out of time, though: she could feel that her shield was weakening, and every laser they fired into her shield pushed her closer to falling into the sea. 

The edge of her heels were slipping off of the platform. She couldn’t stay under fire any longer. Cynthia dropped her shield and made a run to the right. The Krabs were able to keep up with her pace, and a single laser stunned her in the shoulder, knocking her to the ground. At the same, Viktoria dropped her axe onto the Krab, destroying it. She and Hiroki took off from their cover behind the mountain and revealed themselves to the final Krab, her slinging her axe over her shoulder and him firing his daggers at the monster. 

* * *

Ophelia lay in the middle of the street next to her brother. Her shoulder ached, her chest felt like a rib or two had cracked, and she was pretty she’d done something nasty to her ankle as well. 

“The return to the past better heal this,” she muttered to Flynn. “I can _ not  _ afford this medical bill.” 

Despite the situation, her brother laughed. Neither of them looked at each other, though. Their eyes were focused on the oddest scene: a duel between a government agent, and Hiroki and Viktoria’s mother. 

Foxtrot had given all up hope for hurling himself into the river, at least for now. All his attention was devoted to Yumi. Unlike Ophelia, though, Yumi was keeping up with Foxtrot’s level, if not maybe even elevating it--Ophelia felt a bit embarrassed that a middle aged mother fought better than, yet she was in awe simultaneously. Yumi sparred with Foxtrot like a seasoned pro, dodging his punches and lightning strikes while knocking him to the ground in one smooth motion. 

“It’s like she’s done this before,” she whispered to Flynn. 

“I guess if we were unsure if our parents knew about XANA,” he said, “it’s certain now.” 

Ophelia imagined her father in a fight and had to hold back a snort. She continued spectacting the fight--Yumi tripped Foxtrot with a sweeping kick, while Foxtrot countered with a punch to the ribs, causing her to stumble back. 

“We have to do something,” she said. “She can’t fight him alone forever.” 

“Ophelia, you took a huge beating from him,” her brother warned. “You can’t go back in.” 

“I’ll be fine once they get to the tower.” She ignored her brother’s advice and mustered the energy to stand up, trying to hide her limp as she marched towards Foxtrot. 

Yumi fell to the ground as she dodged Foxtrot’s flying fist. She spotted Ophelia in the corner of her eye. She turned her head, distracted, yelling, “Ophelia, stay back! This is my fight!” 

She realized Foxtrot was coming at her with another punch. She swung her leg at his head. He caught her ankle with his hand, producing a stream of electricity that travelled down her leg. Yumi screamed in alarm and fell to the ground, spasming in pain. Foxtrot stood over her, his hands still crackling. 

Ophelia ran towards him and tackled his body, Yumi crying out as she did. Foxtrot easily shoved her off onto the sidewalk. Ophelia struggled to stand back up--her right ankle was weak, while her left thigh was on fire. Her ears were ringing, and she wasn’t seeing straight. Through the white noise blaring in her eardrums she could hear both Flynn and Yumi’s desperate cries, begging her to step back. 

She had no choice, though. She saw Foxtrot point his palm at her. Her vision went blue as she felt a jolting feeling overwhelm her entire body. She tried to scream but had no control over the muscles in her throat. She felt her body fly over the fence until suddenly she was engulfed in water, sinking below the surface. 

* * *

There was only one monster standing between them and the tower. Viktoria was a Lyoko rookie, but she knew she and her brother could get the job done. She gripped her axe with both hands as her brother fired dagger after dagger at the Krab’s shell. None of his attacks were effective: the Eye of XANA was located at the top of the shell, impossible to hit from a head-on angle. 

“Let me handle this, Hiroki,” she said. He ceased fire, cautiously watching his sister. The Krab stopped fire as well, eyeing her next move. 

Viktoria tightened her grip on the axe and began swinging it clockwise, her body moving with it. She continued to spin around and around, building momentum and power, before releasing her grip. The axe swung through the air towards the monster, Viktoria guiding its path with her telekinesis. The sharp metal cleanly sliced through the Krab’s front leg, its body falling to the ground and the top of its shell exposed. As she focused her energy on swinging her axe back to her, she yelled to her brother: “Now!” 

Hiroki ran ahead and fired a dagger, landing a direct bullseye on the monster’s target. Just as its body began to glow, the Krab fired a final laser. The laser hit Hiroki square in the chest, devirtualizing him as the monster exploded. 

Viktoria caught her axe in the air with her hand, returning it to its sheath. Cynthia approached from behind, clapping. “That was some good strategy.” 

“There’s room for two geniuses here,” she remarked jokingly. “Ready to get to that tower?” 

Cynthia began to nod a moment too soon. A monster cry came from behind them. Viktoria turned around to see a giant creature lurch towards them. It had been hiding behind the mountains, waiting to strike when their guard was down. This monster was a giant--almost as tall as the mountains. It for sure towered over anything Viktoria encountered in her last journey to Lyoko. It was a giant, squid like creature, with slimy tentacles that slid against the ground as its menacing body hovered towards them. 

“Is this that--” 

“The Scyphozoa,” answered Cynthia. “XANA has one last trick up his sleeve for us.” 

“Hello?” Hiroki’s voice came in through the microphone. “Uh, Cynthia, Vik, it says there’s a monster coming and--” 

“Thank you, Hiroki, very helpful,” said Viktoria. “We can see it right in front of us. Cynthia, what the hell do we do?” 

“There’s only one option,” she replied. “Run.” 

They executed the plan without hesitation. Viktoria and Cynthia ran side by side, the thin bridge extending just wide enough to fit both of them. She shot one quick look behind her shoulder to see the Scyphozoa was keeping up with remarkable pace, the claw-like features on its membrane face extending like a predator preparing to chow on its prey. The monster extended its tentacles forward, attempting to catch either of them by their limbs.

Viktoria saw this and jumped forward as the monster swiped towards her waist. Cynthia hadn’t been looking back, however, and was caught by the surprise as the monster wrapped the end of its tentacle around her ankle, causing her to trip to the ground. Viktoria didn’t even have the chance to help her back up. The Scyphozoa quickly enwrapped Cynthia in its tentacles, her body lifelessly limp as it began to drain energy from her head into its membrane. 

“Shit, shit, shit,” she uttered. “Hiroki, it’s got Cynthia.” 

“I can see that, Vik.” 

Viktoria unsheathed her axe and flung it at the monster’s membrane. Her axe bounced off its head, as if it was made of rubber. She hadn’t left so much a dent or even a scratch. 

“What the hell do I do?” she groaned, frustrated. “How did they save Ophelia from it?” 

“They said they just devirtualized her,” her brother answered. 

“But I can’t do that to Cynthia! She’s gotta deactivate the tower.” 

“Vik, I wish I had an idea.” 

Viktoria shared that sentiment. Cynthia had been the one coming up with every plan today, and now she was incapacitated. Viktoria was all on her own, and she was stuck. The Scyphozoa’s gigantic body took up the entire bridge, leaving her unable to maneuver past it. 

She stared at her axe. If she couldn’t destroy the Scyphozoa or Cynthia, she’d have to free her. 

She took a few steps back as she formed her plan--the same tactic she’d employed against the Krab. Hurl the axe into the air and control it with her telekinesis. There was a lot of room for error--she’d have to have a finer touch. She’d have to slice through the monster’s tentacles without harming Cynthia, and keep firm control of her weapon in midair lest it fall into the sea. She had one shot. 

There was no time to hesitate. She hurled the axe into the air with her left hand, extending her right hand to instantly take control of it, enveloping the weapon in a white aura. The Scyphozoa paid no mind to her, focused on its singular mission, just as Viktoria was. 

With a motion of her hand, the axe swung towards the right. Like a fine knife, its blade sliced through the monster’s tentacles one by one. The Scyphozoa groaned as it lost its grip on Cynthia, and her body fell to the ground. The monster, incapacitated, retreated towards the mountains, unable to claim a new victim. 

“Good job, Vik,” commented Hiroki from the lab. 

Viktoria smiled as she stood over Cynthia, who began to awaken from her slumber. Good job, indeed. 

* * *

Yumi ran with Flynn to the fence, looking out onto the river. For a moment, she feared the worst--that Ophelia had been swept away by some current. Moments after the splash subsided, however, her body emerged to the surface, face-up. 

Yumi breathed a sigh of relief, opening her eyes as she heard another splash into the river. She looked down and saw Flynn had jumped into the river to save his sister. 

A stream of lightning shocked him in the back, knocking him unconsciousness. His body floated in the river like a doll, his face submerged in the murky water. Yumi realized Foxtrot had approached the fence in her moment of distraction, and he was preparing another shock for her. 

She ducked just in time, the lightning searing the tips of her hair. She paid no mind, focused on releasing her fury against XANA. She kicked him square in the ribs, and as he processed that attack she delivered two punches to the nose. His body began pixellating and glitching, offering one moment to think. Yumi knew one thing came before defeating Foxtrot: saving the kids.

* * *

One moment, Cynthia had been running to the tower with Viktoria, only to be seized by the Scyphozoa. An instant later, she was laying on the ground, Viktoria standing over her body. 

“XANA almost got you there,” she said. “But there’s no time to rest. Ready for the tower?” 

“You saved me?” she asked. 

“We’ll talk later. But yes, I did. Graciously.” 

The two of them shared a smirk for just a moment before Cynthia picked herself up and ran towards the tower. Her body passed through the walls, stepping onto the glowing platform. 

* * *

Before Foxtrot could recompose himself, Yumi jumped across the fence into the river. She hadn’t anticipated how much her wet clothes would weight her down, but she pushed through and swam towards the twin, flipping over his body so he could breathe. 

Almost out of breath, Yumi panted, “Flynn! Flynn! Are you okay?”

His eyes fluttered, and he gasped. “O…” he muttered. “Ophelia! G-get her!” 

He was shivering--but he was alive. Keeping one hand on him, Yumi waded toward his sister. Her status was less certain: her eyes were shut and her body unmoving as it floated in the water. 

* * *

The feeling of white light surrounding her body as she slowly hovered to the top of the tower, as if some magical force was guiding her, was beginning to feel familiar to Cynthia. Almost comfortable--yet she knew now was not the moment to relax. 

* * *

“Ophelia!” Yumi screamed. The sour taste of river waver washed over her tongue. 

She didn’t respond. Yumi tried to feel her pulse, but the current was too rough and her hands too freezing to make a proper assessment. 

“She’s breathing,” Flynn said. “I can see it.” 

“Oh, thank God,” said Yumi--she wasn’t sure she could see it, but for the sake of optimism she believed him. “We have to move out of XANA’s sight before he--” 

“It’s too late,” Flynn said. 

Yumi turned her head to where Flynn was looking. Above the river bank stood Foxtrot, both of his palms emitting sparks. 

* * *

Cynthia landed on the platform. She ran to the center, and the hologram appeared. She hastily placed her hand on it:  _ CYNTHIA _ . 

* * *

Lightning shot out from his two palms, quickly traveling through the river to the trio. No amount of distance would protect them. Yumi and the twins cried out as their entire bodies were electrocuted in the water. 

* * *

Cynthia read the two words she was waiting for:  _ CODE LYOKO.  _

“Hiroki, press enter!” she screamed. “Now, now!” 

* * *

The pain was incessant, and the screams wouldn’t stop. Yumi felt as if it all would be over. As she prayed for the twins’ survival, she began to see a white light, expanding more and more. She’d felt she’d seen this white light many a time before, and she smiled. 

* * *

Time reverted to twenty four hours before, Tuesday morning. Around noon, Cynthia had received a text from her mother: they needed to have a talk. She’d confided this to Ophelia, who’d received no such thing from her father, but they both figured it’d come soon enough. It was clear that the cat was out of the bag. 

In the first timeline, they had congregated at the park bench to discuss XANA’s latest weapon--the Scyphozoa. Cynthia was back at the same park bench--not to meet anyone, just to have a moment to herself. Two XANA attacks in the past four days. With all the time shenanigans, her perception of the days of the week was becoming wobbly. 

She spotted a familiar figure walking at the edge of the park by herself. Cynthia and smiled and shouted out her name: “Viktoria! Over here!” 

Viktoria looked up, frightened by the surprise. Her tense shoulders relaxed when she saw it was Cynthia, and she quickly made her way over. 

Cynthia was eager to tell her the news, but Viktoria beat her to it, saying, “You won’t believe what my mom said to me and Hiroki on the drive to school today.” 

Her jaw dropped. “Did you guys--” 

“Have the talk? Yeah. Not the kinda talk most teenagers have with their parents.” 

She laughed. “My mom texted me earlier. I’m due for a talk this evening too, I think.” 

Viktoria sat next to her, letting out a deep sigh. “Figures this would happen.” Neither of them said anything for a moment. The weather felt nice today--the summer air was warm but not blazing hot, and a gentle breeze balanced it out nicely. The grass flowed with the wind, the vibrant green leaves swayed in the air. Cynthia could recall many summer days in her childhood spent with Viktoria like this. 

“Maybe it’s better that they know,” Viktoria suggested. “They know how to handle XANA, don’t they?” 

Cynthia nodded--she’d been thinking the same thing. “Thanks for saving me from his jellyfish, by the way.” 

Viktoria had a grin on her face as she stood up. “Of course. It’s our duty to save each other. Not to mention, what are friends for?” 

The word took her by surprise. Cynthia tried not to let it show, and returned her grin. “Right.” 

“I don’t mean to abandon you--I was just passing by the park to the woods. Gotta go there for some biology project. But, uh, I’ll see you around.” 

Cynthia nodded and waved her goodbye, watching her disappear into the woods. The forest of Kadic Academy was a bit damper and darker than the forest in Flynn and Ophelia’s backyard--that had seemed like a wildland with no end when she was a child. No, the forest here didn’t hold a candle to the forest of hide-and-seek and exploration. But right now, as she watched Viktoria wander off into the trees to her own hiding spot, this forest seemed pretty alright. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading again! A lot happened in this chapter. We got some insight into the children's relationships and past, particularly pertaining to Viktoria. The adults finally discovered their children's involvement with Lyoko. And then there's Foxtrot--whose story is still a bit of a mystery. Updates will be a bit slower since my winter break is ending soon and education comes first. Next chapter we'll get to hear from two characters from the original series that we haven't heard from yet!


	5. Dance Like Nobody's Watching

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A long break and a long chapter--only a few pages shorter than the last one. Thanks for all the kudos and support y'all!

When Cynthia awakened at six a.m. sharp that morning, her eyelids fluttered open, and her gaze wandered over to the calendar hanging over her bed. Ever since time travel began to complicate her life, she heavily relied on her trusty calendar to keep track of the week. The date was Friday, August 30th. She let out a sigh of relief. She was amazed they’d made it to the end of the week without another XANA attack. If they made it to the weekend, that would make it three days, a needed break after back-to-back tangos with a horde of spiders and a government agent. 

Of course, as she’d realized moments after waking up for the past three mornings, things weren’t as peaceful as she’d hoped they could be, even without XANA. Her parents and the Sterns knew about Lyoko. Hiroki and Viktoria’s mother had borne witness to both attacks, even reportedly manhandling the possessed Foxtrot with surprising prowess. She had clearly compared notes with Cynthia’s parents, and on Tuesday night, they had sat her down for a talk. 

Cynthia then compared her own notes with Hiroki afterwards, and their interventions had roughly followed the same script. Both of their parents were straight to the point, no beating around the bush: they knew about Lyoko, and they knew the kids knew. Their tone was more concerned than disapproving. They didn’t blame the kids for getting involved, they simply wanted to shut it down as soon as possible. Both of their parents had asked them a series of questions, trying to assess their situation and how much the kids themselves understood about Lyoko. 

“I have a question, Cynth,” her father had said, he and her mother sitting across from her on the couch, Cynthia herself perched uncomfortably in a kitchen chair--they had even rearranged the furniture just for an interrogation. “How did you kids get involved?” 

At this point, she had abandoned any of her own beating around the bush. “It was the first week of school,” she’d said. “The twins and I were in gym class, when our teacher--Mr. Morales--got possessed by XANA through his phone. We didn’t know what was happening, and then suddenly Jim, er, Mr. Morales knocked me out cold and dragged me to the factory.” 

Her mother had raised an eyebrow at that. “So XANA brought you to the factory, before you even knew about him?” 

Cynthia had nodded--she questioned XANA’s logic there. Her parents had then exchanged curious looks, likely pondering the same question. “The next thing I knew, I was on Lyoko. The twins and Hiroki followed Jim to the factory and managed to virtualize themselves onto Lyoko.” 

Another furtive exchange of looks. Cynthia hadn’t understood what about that raised any alarms, but they were the experts here. Her father then continued with the line of questioning: “Why haven’t you shut down the supercomputer?” 

She hesitated--she wasn’t sure how to break it to her parents that, for a period of thirty seconds, she had been legally dead. “We tried,” she said. “But when we powered the switch off, I, uh… Well, I sort of...passed out.” 

Each of their eyes had widened. She’d noticed her mother’s grip on the couch cushion had tightened. For a moment, it had almost appeared as if they were nervous, or perhaps caught off guard. 

“One more question,” her mother had said, the tension in their faces disappearing. “Who deactivates the towers?” 

“I do.” 

An unreadable expression had flashed across her face, just barely perceivable. Cynthia wasn’t even sure if it had been real; her memory of the interrogation wasn’t the sharpest. 

“How did you figure that out?” her mother had asked. 

“The first time I entered an activated tower, my body started floating up to the platform. I just touched the screen, and it said--” 

“Code Lyoko.” Her mother had nodded, knowing those words well. 

“Right,” Cynthia had said. “Is there something odd about that?” 

“No,” she’d said. “Nothing odd. Just...interesting. It’s best that we know everything we can about the situation.” Her father nodded in agreement. 

The diary hadn’t come up at all. Her parents, as far as she knew, had no reason to suspect she had been stealing her mother’s diary. Cynthia was unsure whether her father knew of the book’s existence. She was even more unsure how she would confess to the crime without angering them even more. The mere thought of sneaking into their bedroom now that they knew about Lyoko made the crime too risky. She hadn’t touched the diary since Tuesday. 

Her parents had told her they would talk to her more on the weekend. Cynthia would go about her day, normal as ever, feeling thankful that she could focus on school and not worry about XANA--only then she would remember, like she had just now this morning, that her parents knew.  _ Their  _ parents knew. 

She didn’t understand the shame she felt, as if they were discovering a dirty secret. Like Viktoria had said, it was probably better that they knew; they were the experts, the veterans. They defeated XANA once before, and they could do it again--much better than she or the rest of her gang could. For the sake of her sanity, Cynthia hoped this chapter of her life would come to a close soon. 

* * *

“Your homework this week is to complete the review section for chapter one,” Mrs. Shu rattled as she pointed to the projection of the syllabus on the whiteboard. “I shouldn’t have to remind you that your first test is next week. It should be easy, as long as you stu--” 

The school bell interrupted her sentence, and the rest of the class didn’t allow her an opportunity to finish it--that bell signalled the beginning of lunch. The majority of the students quickly gathered their books and exited from the classroom, their excited chatter drowning out any further reminders she had out to offer. Flynn hung back as he waited for Cynthia and Ophelia to walk with him. 

As they exited out into the hallway, Cynthia asked, “You’re both coming tonight, right?” 

“To what?” said Ophelia. “The factory? Is there an attack?” 

Flynn chuckled. “No, stupid, there’s a dance tonight, remember?” 

His sister nudged him in the ribcage. He nearly dropped his books. “Thanks, asswipe. Yeah, of course I’m coming.” 

“Seems like your mind’s laser focused on Lyoko,” remarked Cynthia. 

“Uh, yeah, XANA’s been keeping us busy this week. It’s hard to focus on our normal lives. He, like, electrocuted me.” 

“Hey, my job is stressful too,” she said defensively. “I don’t see you guys out here deactivating towers.” 

“I’m the one taking out monsters.” 

“I literally got kidnapped.” 

“Uh, I got electrocuted, kidnapped, and I nearly drowned,” said Flynn, “so let’s not make this a competition.” 

Both of them laughed. “Well, it’s Friday,” said Ophelia, “so I’m gonna hope XANA’s like me and likes to take his weekends off. We can postpone saving the world until tomorrow.” 

“If he chooses to attack during the dance of all times, I’ll be pissed,” he said. 

Entering the outdoor commons area on their way to the cafeteria, Flynn spotted Viktoria with her usual company: Daniel, Michelle, Tessa, and others. He felt the sudden tension in his sister--though she was usually open to Flynn about most of her issues, she didn’t like to admit her disdain for Viktoria. He could still tell, of course. Viktoria looked over at the three of them. Flynn waved her over, and she excused herself from her friends. 

“How’s it going?” she asked them. 

“Alright,” Cynthia said. “We just escaped from algebra.” 

“Oof, that sucks. I struggled like hell with that class last year.” 

“You going to the dance tonight?” Flynn asked her. 

“Of course, who isn’t? You guys all are, right?” They nodded. “Well, uh, I might see you guys around tonight. I’m going with Daniel and everyone--I know, surprising.” 

“I’m sure we’ll see you,” said Ophelia, offering a smile. 

Flynn could sense the potential of this conversation veering off-course into uncomfortable territory. He had to steer it himself: “By the way, Viktoria, I don’t think I ever asked you how it is with, uh, your parents and...everything.” 

She hesitated, making certain no one else was close enough to eavesdrop. “Better than I would’ve thought,” she said. “From what Cynthia told me, pretty similar to her, uh, intervention, I guess. Apparently, though, my dad doesn’t remember anything about these attacks.” 

That piqued Ophelia’s interest. “Really? Not even the spider attack?” 

She shook her head. “No, and my mom has no idea. Both of your parents are fine, right?”

“Only my mom has been involved in any attacks,” said Cynthia, “but my dad’s been conscious of the returns to the past as well.” 

Viktoria shrugged. “Yeah, I don’t have any idea why. Besides that, it was fine, though I had to do most of the talking--Hiroki kinda clammed up.” 

Ophelia laughed. “He’s not built for interrogation.”

“Definitely not. He’s in another one of his moods today--he said this morning he’s not coming to the dance.” 

“What?” said Cynthia. “That is so lame. Tell him we’re all coming.” 

“Hiroki hardly sees me as a voice of reason, but I’ll do my best.” 

A whiff of blonde hair suddenly popped up behind Viktoria. She squealed in surprise and turned around--Michelle had snuck up on her. Flynn exchanged a quick look with Ophelia. Michelle was known to be...erratic. A nice enough girl, but her energy could be exhausting. 

“Jesus, Michelle,” said Viktoria. “You gave me a heart attack.” 

“It’s called a sneak attack,” she said. She glanced over at the other three. “Oh, gosh, sorry, I don’t wanna be rude! You must be those other kids. I’m Michelle. And you are?”

“I’m--” began Ophelia.

“No!” Michelle exclaimed. “No no no, wait, like, let me guess your names. I’m really good with remembering names. Let me guess: you’re Olivia, you’re Selena and you...” 

Her finger pointed towards Flynn, lingering as she pondered. “I’m totally sorry. I’m completely blanking. What’s your name?”

“Flynn. It’s Flynn.” 

“Oh! Flynn!” She smacked her forehead, laughing. “Sorry, that is so silly of me! I should know it by now by how often Viktoria hangs out with you guys. But at least I got the girls right!” 

Neither deigned to correct her. Michelle kept blathering. “So, like, are you all going to the dance tomorrow?” They nodded. “Oh, that is so exciting! I can’t wait to see you all tonight. Are you guys dressing on theme?” 

“Oh, you know it,” said Ophelia. “Me and Selena went shopping together earlier this week.” Cynthia rolled her eyes, an act unnoticed by Michelle. 

“Oh, that is so fun!” she exclaimed. “I’m so excited. My mom gave me one of her dresses from high school, it’s, like, so vintage--oh, and you’ll see my mom, too! She’s a chaperone. She  _ totally  _ loves you guys. Like, wants-to-adopt-you-if-you-ever-become-orphans, loves you. ” 

Flynn didn’t know what to address first. “Your mom...knows about us? How?” 

Michelle laughed and smacked her forehead again. “Oh, right! My mom went to Kadic with your parents! Elisabeth Chalamet--or I guess she would’ve been Elisabeth Delmas.” 

“Your mom knew our parents?” asked Cynthia.

“My mom  _ loves  _ your parents! When she found out I was friends with Viktoria, she literally died. She was talking about how she was so close with Viktoria’s parents during junior high and high school. And her jaw hit the floor when she found out she’s chaperoning with your parents tonight, too.” 

“Whoa, what?” interrupted Viktoria. “Our parents are chaperoning the dance?” 

Michelle looked at her blankly. “Of course. Your parents and Cynthia’s dad are, I’m pretty sure. The point is, they’re all coming tonight! Oh my god, we should get, like, a giant family picture at the dance! It’d be like, a class reunion.” 

Ophelia began to speak up, but Michelle beat her to the punch yet again: “Okay, it was great catching up with you guys. I gotta go eat lunch, but I will see you tonight. Vikky, Tessa wants to speak with you. Bye bye!” 

Her hand latched around Viktoria’s wrist and dragged her away, Viktoria twisting her neck to mouth goodbye. Flynn waved back, speechless. 

“Did anyone have any idea our parents were friends with her mother?” he asked. 

“Lyoko wasn’t the only thing about high school they omitted,” his sister said. 

* * *

Yumi sat in her car, parked near the campus gate. She’d arrived just in time, right as the clock struck three. From her vantage point, she could just barely catch sight of crowds of students emerging from the science building across the field. She relaxed her shoulders and laid against the headrest of the chair. She needed a moment to breathe. For the past three days, her mind hadn’t felt at ease. 

A tense air had infiltrated their household ever since she and Ulrich had sat down their kids for a talk. Hiroki and Viktoria were more guarded. They hardly spoke at meals, quickly scarfing down their food and putting their dishes away before disappearing. Hiroki was staying in his room even more than before, while Viktoria was leaving the house more often to see her friends. Whenever she asked them how their day was, the best she could extract from them were short, unrevealing phrases implying the only thing that busied them these days were classes and homework. 

“Now,” she had said to their children that Tuesday evening, “your father and I want you guys to be transparent with us.” 

Ulrich had nodded, standing at her side. “Lyoko is dangerous. XANA is dangerous. We were even younger than you guys when we dealt with this, and we know what it feels like. You’ve only had, what, three, maybe four towers to deactivate? You’re still newbies at the game. You’re out of your depth.” 

Viktoria had sighed. “You always say practice makes perfect, Dad.” 

“You shouldn’t  _ have  _ to be perfect,” Yumi’d said. “You shouldn’t have to become experts, like--like we were. It’s hard for us as your parents to watch you do something so dangerous.” 

“Which is why you need to be transparent,” Ulrich had added. “Tell us when XANA attacks. Tell us everything you know now, and everything you learn later. We’ll be able to guide you in the right direction, okay? You can trust us, and you know that.” 

Yumi and Ulrich had then forcibly extracted verbal confirmations from each of their children, but it became apparent neither had held true to their oath. Their household had hardly acknowledged Lyoko since. 

Her train of thought came to a halt as the door behind her opened. She caught a glimpse of Viktoria’s face in the rearview mirror. 

“Hi, Viktoria,” she said to her. “How was your day?” 

“Hi, Mom,” she replied. “Were you gonna tell me that you’re a  _ chaperone  _ for the dance?” 

Straight to the cut. “I didn’t know this was so important to you, Viktoria.” 

“It’s not--it’s not like that, okay, it’s just something I thought I would know more than twelve hours in advance.” 

Her brother hopped into the car at that moment. Before he could even say hello, Viktoria interrogated him: “Hiroki, did you know Mom is gonna be at the dance?” 

His eyebrows furrowed. “Aren’t you a little old for a high school dance?” 

“As a chaperone, you dumba--er, you idiot.” 

“Watch it,” said Yumi. “The school needed chaperones, so your father and I signed up.” 

“And Cynthia’s parents, too?” 

She turned around--how did Viktoria find that out? “Did Cynthia tell you that?” 

“No,” she said. “You wanna know who told me? Michelle Chalamet. Whose mother knows you, by the way.” 

Chalamet...the name didn’t ring a bell. “Who’s her mother?” she asked Viktoria. 

“Elisabeth...something, I don’t remember the last--” 

“Delmas?” 

“Yeah, I think so.” 

_ Christ _ . Maybe the plan wasn’t worth it. 

“The point is,” said Viktoria. “I find it very weird that all four of you want to be some sort of...PTA parents all of a sudden.” 

Her kid was smarter than she expected. And Sissi’s kid was a total blabbermouth. 

“Okay,” Yumi said. “You wanna know why we’re doing this, Viktoria? We’re worried. You guys are up against something bigger than yourselves--like your dad said, you’re out of your depth. Events like these, like school dances, those are exactly the types of places where XANA strikes and wreaks havoc. So we wanted to be able to be there in case anything went wrong.” 

At least one of them was being transparent now. And at least someone in this household had finally uttered the forbidden X-word. Viktoria nodded, trying to understand, but the furrow of her thick brows suggested permeating annoyance. 

“We won’t be clingy,” she continued. “We’ll hang back, and let you guys have your fun. We’re just there in case.” 

“And you’re just gonna leave Hiroki home alone?” said Viktoria. 

That was rich. “Your brother is fourteen, not a toddler. He can fare for himself.” 

“This just gives me more reason not to come,” he remarked. 

Yumi didn’t address that. Fighting one of her children was enough of a battle. “Any more questions, or are we ready to go?” 

Silence from both of them--the first time this week she appreciated their quiet. She started up the engine, heading home. 

* * *

The car ride home had been a tense one after her verbal altercation with her mother. Once they’d passed the front door into the kitchen, both Viktoria and her brother had retreated to their rooms upstairs, to both the dismay and expectation of their mother. 

She had told Cynthia things would be better, now that their parents knew. Yet Viktoria wished there was a way they could use the supercomputer to turn back time, all the way to weeks ago, to the beginning of the school year. A way to wipe their parents’ memories, and everyone’s memories. To revert to a pre-Lyoko state. No concept of a virtual world or an evil artificial intelligence. Not even an idea that their parents were pre-teen digital warriors. 

She wanted to be a regular high schooler, the way she had been last year. Right now, regular high schoolers were worried about what to wear tonight to the dance, and whether it would impress the boy they liked. Right now, she was worried about the timing of XANA’s next move. Right now, regular high schoolers were wondering what kind of music the DJ would play, and who would show up at the dance. Right now, she and her friends were complaining about their  _ parents _ appearing at the dance, to protect them from an evil virus. 

Living in her household had never felt as suffocating as it did now. She loathed the moments when she was downstairs--whether it was walking through the hallway when she came home from school, or eating a meal with her family, or using her father’s office to study. The idea of Lyoko was always in the backdrop of every scene. 

Viktoria wasn’t used to being so transparent with her parents. She always kept up a wall. Her school life was a mystery to them--throughout the semester, she’d simply say she was passing. Only her report card revealed anything to her parents, against her wishes. They hardly knew anything about her friends--up until Tuesday, they’d had no idea she had started hanging out with Hiroki’s group. Her parents’ discovery of her involvement with Lyoko felt like they were trespassing the barrier she’d put up. This dance was supposed to be an escape from all of this--but her parents had infiltrated that part of her life, too. 

Viktoria rose up from her bed. If she was gonna suffer through tonight, she wasn’t going to be the only Stern going through it. She excited her bedroom and walked across the hall to Hiroki’s room, knocking on the door. 

“What?” he answered, gloomily. 

She opened the door. It was rare that she got a glimpse at the dungeon he called his bedroom. The only light that illuminated the room was the dusky sunlight piercing his blinds. His bedsheets were an unmade mess, his body tangled among them. Hanging above his bed were posters of what she guessed were some video games, their corners peeling off the wall. 

She had been too struck by confusion to remember to speak. “What?” Hiroki said. “I didn’t say you could come in.” 

“Older sibling privilege,” she said, letting herself in. “Why aren’t you coming to the dance?” 

He shrugged, his bedsheets moving with him. “Don’t wanna.” 

Could he give any more halfhearted of an answer? “Why don’t you?” she asked, trying to press deeper. 

“Dances suck,” he offered. “And they’re boring. I don’t like dancing, I’m not good at it, and the music sucks.” 

“Hardly anyone actually dances, Hiroki” she said. “At least not well. They’re not gonna be judging you. And even less people like the music.” 

“Then why do people go?” 

“Because we’re high schoolers, doing high school things? What better things do we have to do on a Friday night?” 

He sat up straight, unravelling his body from the his sheets. “Listen, Vik, my life has been stressful right now. I just want to, like, have a night to myself.” 

“Are you really using Lyoko as an excuse?” she said. “Don’t act like you didn’t spend every weekend during the school year the exact same way, before Lyoko became a part of your life.” 

Hiroki scoffed. “Why do you even care whether I come?” 

“Because I want my brother to enjoy high school. Is that a crime?” 

“You hardly cared about how I was doing at Kadic for my first two years here. Why are you so fucking nosey all of a sudden?” 

Now Viktoria scoffed. “First you’re mad at me for not caring, now you’re mad at me because I’m starting to care. That’s rich, Hiroki. Sorry I’m trying to be a better sibling to you--what an asshole I am.” 

“Hey!” Their mother had suddenly appeared behind Viktoria--she hadn’t realized how loud their voices had risen. “What on earth is this  _ language  _ you two are using?” 

“Viktoria started it,” he immediately said. 

“No I didn’t, you--” 

“I don’t care who started it,” their mother said. “You two are way too old to be arguing like this. What is even the matter with you two?” 

“I was just asking why he wasn’t going to the dance,” Viktoria explained, “and then he started freaking out at--” 

“I told her why,” he interrupted. “And then she started being annoying.” 

Their mother pressed an exhausted hand against her forehead--a signature move to signify the pettiness of their squabbling. “Okay,” she said. “Hiroki, why aren’t you going to the dance?” 

Hiroki sighed. “They’re boring. I don’t like dancing or the music.” 

“He’s never even been to a dance!” Viktoria protested. 

Her hands moved towards her temples, further signalling her exhaustion. “Your sister does have a point.” 

“You always take her side!” he began. “That is so not fair--” 

“Maybe I’m always right, that’s why,” retorted Viktoria. 

“Enough!” their mother yelled, silencing them with a wave of her hand. “I don’t want to hear anymore of it. Hiroki: your entire family is going to the dance already. I am making you come with us.” 

“Mom, come on--” 

“Hiroki,” she warned. “Don’t push it. Besides, the reason your father and I are going is for your two’s safety. If we leave you alone, that makes you an easy target for XANA. So you’re coming.” 

Hiroki gave a dramatic eye roll. “Fine,” he said, collapsing in his bed. “Can you two leave, now?” 

Their mother sighed and returned to her bedroom. Viktoria took another look at her little brother. His face was stuffed into his pillow, his hair unkempt and uncombed. He was dressed in his pajamas--he had quickly changed out of his school clothes, apparently. He looked like a little kid, not a high school sophomore. 

She remembered how fun he had been when he was little, before his teenage years. Sure, there were plenty of moments where he seemed like the most insufferable, annoying brat she could have possibly gotten as a sibling, but there were plenty of good moments here, too. Moments like those were sparse to find these days, though--it worried Viktoria. 

She could only hope he’d turn around, and turn around soon. Viktoria closed his bedroom door behind her and returned to her room to prepare for tonight’s dance. 

* * *

“I told you, Marie, I’ll be back Sunday night.” 

As the taxi drove down the city he’d once run through wild, he looked out through its dirty window, a sense of nostalgia settling over him. A lot had changed in this town, yet he could still picture it how it used to be in his youth: the small-town shops now replaced by chain stores; outdoor diners and small dives with entries in the alleys; the rundown houses now replaced by shiny new-age apartments. 

“I’m just confused on why you had to leave on such short notice,” the voice on the other end of the call said back to him. 

“Don’t sweat it, babe,” he said. “My friends called, they said it was a family emergency.” 

“ _ We’re  _ your family, not them.” 

“They might as well be family, Marie. I won’t be long. Besides, it's good that I see the kids. I’ll make sure to say hi to them for you--oh, sorry, I gotta go. I’ll call you later tonight.” 

“Alright. Bye, sweetie.” 

“See you soon.” 

He hung up, and he leaned forward in the car towards the taxi driver: “This is my stop--there, next to the gate.” 

The cab came to an abrupt stop--he would have been hurled through the front window if he hadn’t been wearing his seat belt. The taxi business in Villanova was shoddy. Nevertheless, after retrieving his bags from the trunk of the cab, he muttered his thank you’s to the driver and paid him in-full, a generous tip on top. The cab’s tires screeched against the concrete the minute he stepped onto the sidewalk. 

He took a moment to stare at the gate of the school campus. Kadic Academy--the rest of Villanova had changed, but hardly an inch of this campus looked different. The same fence laid out the perimeter of the school, the same trees dotted the boundaries of the park, the same bricks lined the dusty old school buildings. 

He got out his phone again and dialed a number. The other end picked up after only two rings. 

“Hello?” 

“I’m here, Yumi. Where you at?” 

“Oh, great. We’re waiting in the auditorium.” 

“Alright, tell Ulrich and Einstein I’m heading over.” 

Odd Della Robbia hadn’t touched Villanova since graduation. He had mixed feelings about the town. His fondest memories and his strongest bonds had been forged here. No relationship in his life could hold a candle to the fivesome he’d stumbled into at Kadic--something he’d never admit to Marie. The experience of fighting off an AI bent on destroying the world...unsurprisingly, it brought Odd and his friends close together like nothing else could. 

Yet it was that same experience that made him want to leave Villanova and never look back. In that way, he had differed from the rest of his friends--he wasn’t built to settle down in charted territory. He was too much of a free spirit. After shutting down the supercomputer, and as they entered their high school years at Kadic, it became apparent how much his friends wanted a normal life. They’d spent their preteen and early teen years worried about XANA--not normal teenager things. Clearly, that had taken an effect on his friends. They wanted the simple life, the small town life, the suburban life. 

As a result, he hardly ever got to see his childhood friends, and he felt like he was missing out. The Belpois and Stern households were merely a drive away, while Odd had to book a last-minute five hour flight to get to Villanova, all for some school dance. Jeremie had left a vague voicemail two nights ago, telling him it was urgent. He was about to find out what could possibly drag him all the way out to his high school, and he had a sneaking suspicion at what it was. 

He entered the back of the administrative building. As he took a left and entered through the grand doors of the auditorium, they spotted him instantly, each breaking out into beaming smiles. 

Ulrich was the first one to greet him, grabbing him by his hand and pulling him in for a hug. “Nice to see you, roomie,” Odd said to him. “Yumi told me you’ve been talking nonstop about me.” 

Ulrich gave him a pity laugh. “Yeah, like always. Great seeing you, good buddy.” 

Yumi pulled him away from Ulrich for her own hug. “Don’t try stealing my husband, okay?” 

Odd rolled his eyes. “Oh, trust me, I’m good. Living with him for five years at this place was enough for a lifetime. You’re a saint for putting up with him, you know that?” 

“If anyone was a saint, it was me for putting up with you,” said Ulrich. “It took you until junior year to figure out to manage your feet.” 

“Puberty is hard, okay! Now where is--there you are, Einstein!” 

Jeremie grunted as Odd forced him into a hug. “How’s my favorite genius in the whole world doing?” 

“I feel a little bruised after that hug,” he admitted as he pulled away. 

Odd squeezed his bony shoulder and laughed. “Still built from sticks and stones, I see. But where’s my second favorite genius--where’s little Mrs. Einstein?” 

“Sadly, Aelita couldn’t make it,” said Jeremie. “Hospital comes before chaperoning, I guess.” 

“Oh, that’s devastating,” said Odd. “What are we to do without our queen? I was afraid she got swept off to another one of her towers.” 

To his own shock, the joke didn’t land. He looked at them expectantly. “I know that wasn’t my best, but come on.” 

“We kinda need to talk to you about...that,” said Yumi. 

Odd nodded--he had expected this. “It’s Lyoko, isn’t it.” 

Jeremie nodded. “So you’ve been able to tell--” 

“I’ve noticed there’s been a few time-related mishaps in the past few weeks,” he said. “That meaning returns to the past. I thought I was just losing track of the week the first time, honestly. Once I got Einstein’s call after the last one, I knew something was up. So, uh, what is it?” 

The three of them exchanged looks, as if to decide which one of them would break it to him. Jeremie spoke up: 

“It’s happening again, Odd. XANA is back.” 

For a moment, Odd was silent. He wasn’t sure what his expectations were. He had been trying to be optimistic--somehow the supercomputer had been turned on by some local kids at the factory, and its return to the past function was malfunctioning. Of course, at the back of his mind, he had been prepared for the worst case scenario: XANA’s return. 

“Odd? Are you okay?” 

He snapped out of it. “Sorry,” he said. “I’m good, I’m good. I was just hoping that wasn’t the case. Well, uh, how did you guys find out?” 

“Like you, the returns to the past caught out attention pretty quick,” said Jeremie. “Aelita was there for XANA’s first attack. He had possessed Jim and tried attacking her.” 

“And I was there for two others,” said Yumi. “A possessed horde of spiders, and then a government agent.” 

“Looks like XANA’s been doing some damage,” Odd remarked. 

“Yeah, XANA’s getting nasty, good buddy,” said Ulrich. “I got attacked by the spiders, according to Yumi. They knocked me out good, and ever since then I haven’t been immune to the returns to the past.” 

“Immune? What does that mean?” 

“It means he can’t remember anything,” Jeremie said. “The spiders bit Ulrich as well as William, likely infecting them with some weapon of XANA’s. Now, it’s like they never set foot in the scanners--every time there’s a return to the past, their memories are wiped clean.” 

“Well, shit,” uttered Odd. “That’s worse than I thought.” 

The three of them exchanged looks. “Odd, there’s...one more thing,” said Ulrich. “You might need to sit down.” 

Ulrich pulled aside four folding chairs and laid them out in a circle. Odd sat down, on guard. He wasn’t sure how much worse it could get. 

“What’s the news?” he asked. “Is he making more replicas? More robots?” 

“Odd,” said Jeremie. “Our kids are involved. All of them.” 

Odd looked at Jeremie at disbelief. He could feel all three of their eyes focused on him, worried for his reaction. He wasn’t sure  _ how  _ to react--he had  _ never _ expected that. 

“How?” he asked, his voice dropping to a dejected volume. “You mean--our kids, my Ophelia and Flynn--they know--” 

“They don’t just know,” said Yumi. “They’ve been fighting at Lyoko, deactivating the towers. Your two twins helped me fight off the possessed agent last time.” 

He didn’t know what to say. He could hardly even open his jaw to speak. His own kids… 

Odd had always thought that leaving Villanova behind in the past would ensure one thing: no more Lyoko in his life. On the surface, he’d always treated it as fun and games, but he was well aware of how fucked up that life was. No teenager should go through that, and especially not his kids. 

“Do you know...do you know how they found the supercomputer?” he asked. 

Jeremie fixed his glasses, pushing them up the bridge of his nose--old habits died hard, Odd saw. “It’s interesting,” said Jeremie. “From what they’ve told us, it appears XANA brought them to Lyoko. When he possessed Jim, he kidnapped Cynthia and brought her to the factory. The time after that, he kidnapped Flynn and did the same thing. It’s like he wanted them to discover Lyoko.” 

“But that makes no sense,” said Odd. “Why would he do that? Why would he bring someone who could stop his attacks? And why our kids--XANA would figure we’d find out, right? What does he want, revenge?” 

“XANA’s evil, but not emotional. Revenge can’t be his motive, but as of right now...we just don’t know.” 

“There’s a lot we don’t know, Odd,” said Yumi. “We don’t know why he involved our kids, or how he came back to life in the first place.” 

“We still wanted to break it to you in person,” added Ulrich. “That’s really why we wanted you to come down. This was pretty big news to all of us.” 

“Thanks, guys,” he said to them. “Sorry if I seem unresponsive--still trying to find the words for this.” 

“We understand, tough guy,” said Ulrich. 

“We’re also here to watch out for XANA,” said Jeremie, “in case he pulls off any shenanigans at the dance tonight.” 

“If you’re up for the challenge, that is,” said Ulrich with a smirk. 

That brought a smile back to Odd’s face. “Of course I’m up for it, good buddy. It’ll be just like old times.” 

* * *

Flynn waited outside the entrance to his auditorium, awaiting his sister and Cynthia. They had told him to go ahead and they’d be right there after dressing up--that had been twenty minutes ago. Naturally, he was beginning to lose his patience. He didn’t even understand why it was so important to look good. This wasn’t homecoming or prom, it was just a beginning-of-the-year dance. The dress code was goddamn casual; Flynn had thrown on a casual buttonup and some jeans and called it a day. Ophelia loved to look at her best at any event no matter the formality, and once she started something she usually looped Cynthia into it as well. 

He heard running footsteps round the corner of the building--the ladies were ready. Flynn gave their outfits a cursory scan as he turned around. Cynthia was wearing a simple white blouse and black jeans, simple but effective. Ophelia had clearly gone the extra mile. Her hair was curled, her makeup was done, and she was wearing a crop top on top of some ripped jeans. 

“Be honest: are we killing it, or what?” she asked teasingly. 

“This isn’t a concert,” he said. “It’s a school dance in an auditorium. This outfit is for an audience of less a hundred.” 

“And I’ll stand out among everyone else. It’s like they say, Flynn--drip or drown.” 

He rolled his eyes. “Let’s just go already. We’re half an hour late.” 

“Oh, Flynny,” said Cynthia, “being fashionably late to any event is key.” 

“Like I said, it’s a school dance.” 

The two girls threw their heads back laughing at them, high off each other’s energy. Flynn rolled his eyes even more dramatically, leading them into the building so they’d be quiet. 

The room was decked in cheap decor. A shiny disco ball rotated above the crowd of students, reflecting the dimmed ceiling lights into every corner of the room. On the right and left side the administration had set up tables of punch and cheap snacks--the chaperones were stationed at one of these tables, keeping one eye on the food and the other on the students. The DJ had stationed himself on the stage, currently playing a poor remix of some outdated EDM song. 

“Well,” said Flynn, “there have definitely been better dances.” 

As they walked towards the dance floor, a girl broke out from the crowd--Viktoria. She was dragging her brother behind her. He was wearing a simple t-shirt and sweatpants. Very much not dressed for the occasion. 

“There you guys are!” Viktoria said. 

“Hiroki?” said Ophelia. “What got you to come?” 

“My mom made me,” he said, flustered. 

Ophelia squealed and trapped him in a tight hug. “Your mom is the smartest woman, ever!” 

When his sister released Hiroki from her embrace, Flynn said to him, “It’s not gonna be that bad, buddy.” 

“That’s subjective,” replied Hiroki. 

Viktoria leaned in to the twins, raising her voice over the music: “By the way, did you realize who’s here?” 

Flynn and Ophelia looked through the crowd of students for a familiar face. They shook their heads, confused by the growing smirk on Viktoria’s face. 

“Look over at the chaperones,” she hinted. 

Flynn glanced over at the chaperone table, still lost. There were ten of them, a mix of teachers and parents. Ms. Hemmer, Mrs. Shu, and of course Viktoria’s parents and Cynthia’s father were here as well. And then there was--that was strange. That man, just from the back of his head, for a moment Flynn had thought--

His sister gasped. “Dad?” 

Their father turned around at the mention of his name. His eyes lit up upon seeing him and Ophelia. The twins broke off from their friends and nearly sprinted towards their father, ignoring the warning of another chaperone. Their father caught both of them into a tight hug, whispering in their ear: “Surprise!” 

“Why didn’t you tell us you were coming?” Ophelia asked. 

He shrugged, laughing it off. “It was kind of a last minute decision, to be honest. Wasn’t sure I was gonna make it.” 

“Why are you here, though?” Flynn asked.

Another shrug. “Oh, you know me, I’m a proud Kadic graduate, just absolutely bleeding school spirit. There’s nothing more I want in life than to chaperone a high school dance in my forties.” They both chuckled. 

“For real, though, I do need to--” He shook his head. “Actually, it can wait. We’ll talk after the dance. Have fun tonight!” 

Ophelia and Flynn walked away from the punch table. She whispered in his ear: “You think he’s here because of--” 

“Almost definitely.” 

When they rejoined their friends, they saw their group had expanded to include Michelle and Daniel. Flynn could clearly hear the high-pitched squeals of Michelle’s voice over the thumping bass of the music. 

“Ophelia!” she exclaimed. “I love your outfit!” 

Great--someone to encourage her. Ophelia completely basked in the flattery, her cheeks even blushing a bit. “Thanks,” she said. “You look good too.” 

Michelle beamed fully at the compliment. “And Hiroki, I am so glad you came. You are like, my second favorite Stern for sure! Oh, you guys have to meet my mom. She is dying to meet the whole family!” 

Without waiting for a goodbye, she ran off, dragging Daniel into the crowd with her. Viktoria excused herself as well, saying, “That’s probably my cue to join them. See ya.” 

A piano riff and bombastic synths signalled the start of the next track, and Ophelia and Flynn simultaneously gasped. They recognized this song instantly: an old disco track from their childhood that their father and mother loved to put on repeat. Hiroki and Cynthia both gave them skeptical, confused looks. The twins paid no mind, breaking out into infectious grins as they sprinted off to the dance floor. For once, they felt like they could live without worries, dance without the slightest concern. Tonight, they could be regular teenagers. 

* * *

“And then, guess what the guy says, huh? ‘My canoe just sprang a leak!’ Hilarious, right?” 

“Odd, I feel like I’ve heard this joke before.” 

“What? No way, Ulrich! A true comedian never repeats a joke.” 

“Guess that’s why your standup gig in college never worked out, good buddy.” 

“Watch it, pal! At least I can crack a joke, you mopey mule.” 

Yumi observed her husband and his old friend swap insults from afar. She’d seen this scene plenty times before in this building--there wasn’t a spot in Kadic where those two hadn’t gotten into one of their spars. Some things never changed.

She kept an eye on the crowd of students--she should at least try to take her chaperone duties seriously. So far, no sight of roughhousing or inappropriate dancing, but she knew from experience that students got away with worse than that if they hid it in the midst of the crowd. She couldn’t care enough to come closer and perform an inspection. The loud screams of teenagers combined with the thumping music was almost enough to give her a skull-splitting headache. Her fingers fiddled with the bulge of the lighter in her jean pocket. She had to fight the urge to leave the auditorium for an outdoor smoke break, but she wasn’t sure how well the Kadic faculty would take to that. 

Jeremie returned to the punch table, nudging his way past the two knuckleheads. “I feel like I’ve seen this fight play out a thousand times,” he said to Yumi. 

She laughed. “I was just about to say the same thing.” 

Jeremie poured some of the cheap punch into a red plastic cup, and he took a sip as he looked out into the crowd. He let out a sigh. Yumi watched the movement in his eyes, scanning the room from left to right. She knew that look. 

“What’s up?” she said. “Is something wrong? Do you think there’s--” 

“What? No, nothing like that,” he said, shaking his head. “Just thinking.” 

She checked their surroundings: no students were at the punch table, and the rest of the chaperones were circling the dancefloor to condemn any inappropriate misbehavior. “Is it about Lyoko?” 

He nodded. “Just trying to figure out XANA’s angle. There’s a lot that doesn’t make sense.” 

Yumi nodded in agreement, looking over at Ulrich, still engrossed in his petty argument. “Like how Ulrich and William lost their immunity.” 

He pushed the frame of his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “That can be explained. That was likely from the spider bites. My guess is XANA doesn’t want us helping out our kids. If we can’t remember his attacks, that weakens us, and them.” 

“Then what’s confusing you?” 

He fiddled with the collar of his shirt. “I still can’t figure out why he would practically  _ lead  _ them to the supercomputer,” he said. “Ignoring the fact that they’re  _ our  _ children. Why would XANA want people to discover Lyoko and be able to stop him? If he’d never done that, he would’ve been perfectly able to pull off his attacks unimpeded, with no one to deactivate the tower.” 

“Right,” said Yumi. “And Aelita told me your daughter’s the one who can deactivate towers.” 

He nodded eagerly. “Exactly. Somehow, Cynthia has the digital keys to Lyoko as well.” 

“There’s no such thing as genetics in the supercomputer, is there?” 

Jeremie laughed. “Not in that way. But only three people could have given her the keys: her deceased grandfather, her mother, or…” 

“Or XANA.” 

“Right again. But if XANA has the keys, he should be able to escape the supercomputer. But right now, it sounds like he’s stuck there.” 

Yumi nodded--some of the supercomputer stuff still flew past her head. “It sounds like we might need to make a trip to the factory later.” 

“I’m starting to think the same.” 

“Yumi!” Odd had appeared in front of them, standing sternly with his arms crossed. “I have an important question for you. Has that husband of yours ever made a good joke in the twenty years you’ve been married?” 

“Odd, you are so dramatic,” said Ulrich. 

“Odd, I couldn’t care less to answer this question,” said Yumi. 

“Hmph! As always, taking his side. Jeremie--” 

“Leave me out of this,” he said, walking away. 

The argument came to a halt when they heard the door to the auditorium open. A woman appeared, perhaps a late chaperone, dressed to the absolute nines for a high school dance. She was wearing a long black V-neck dress with high heels whose clacks against the wooden panel floor could be heard over the music. As she walked towards their punch table, she observed the crowd of students with a regal gaze. 

“ _ Wow _ ,” commented Odd. “Who is that?” 

“Odd!” Yumi scolded. “You’re married.” 

“I am, I know,” he said defensively. “I just call them like I see them.” 

“Excuse me,” the woman asked them, “are you guys also chaperones? I apologize for running so late, I know it started an hour ago, I just--” 

She paused, her eyes fixated on Yumi. She suddenly let out a sharp gasp. 

“No way,” she said, a wide smile breaking out across her face. “Yumi? Yumi Ishiyama? And--oh my goodness, it’s all of you guys!” 

Before Yumi could even recognize this woman, she was forced into a tight hug. Was that noise in her ear the sound of her sniffling? Her confusion dissipated when they separated from the hug and she looked closer at the woman. Her long black hair and the freckles that dotted her sharp-boned cheeks beneath her twinkling eyes… 

Odd realized before she did: “Sissi Delmas?” 

“The one and only! And right back at you, Odd Della Robbia. You’re taller than I remember.” 

“It’s great seeing you, Sissi,” said Jeremie. “I can’t remember the last time I saw you. Where, uh, where are you living nowadays?” 

“Oh my goodness,” said Sissi. It appeared as if she was wiping away tears. “It has been forever, hasn’t it? I’ve hardly seen some of you since graduation. Where am I living? Nearby Villanova, actually--Bellaire, if you’ve heard of it. That’s where I met my current husband--I was working real estate then. Oh, it’s been a long time since I’ve been in Villanova--I mean, I sent my little Michelle here of course, but I haven’t had a proper visit, you know? Oh, I don’t mean to be rude 

“Well, I moved far away for college,” she explained. “And then I tried settling down near there, but it just didn’t feel right. I decided to settle down here, but I live on the opposite side of town. I sent Michelle here, though. I’m very busy--working as a real estate agent now, and, well--I don’t mean to be rude. What are you guys doing now?” 

“Jeremie’s family and mine both live here, close to the school,” said Ulrich. 

“And I live out of town,” Odd chimed. “My kids go here as well, though.” 

“That’s great,” Sissi remarked. “And you’re all married? With kids?” 

“Mhm,” Jeremy said. “Married to--” 

“Oh, you’re married to Aelita, aren’t you? With your adorable Cynthia. And Ulrich, Michelle told me about your adorable two kids--Viktoria, and Hiroki, isn’t it? Oh, Yumi, how is your little brother? Doing well, I hope. And Odd--my goodness, I saw on Facebook that you and your wife are practically raising a village. Six kids--and two sets of twins, too! Must be a ruckus; I only have Michelle and my little toddler, Jack, and two’s already enough for me.” 

Sissi continued to blabber on, switching between accidentally self-centered soliloquies and bubbling interrogations of each of them. She wanted to know their jobs, their children’s birthdays, their ages, their children’s ages, the value of their houses (even offering some insider real estate tips in case they wanted to sell). While some things never changed--Sissi was always one to chatter--Yumi was amazed at how much she enjoyed catching up with her. Her vexating behavior as a tween was clearly just a symptom of her age, for Sissi had fledged into a full grown woman. 

Suddenly, the door burst open again. The adults heads turned as two boys sprinted into the auditorium, brandishing two full bottles of Coca Cola. Cheers emitted from the edge of the crowd, like a town embracing the homecoming of two warriors. These boys’ friends appeared to have anticipated whatever prank they were pulling off. One of the boys in his adrenaline-infused excitement ran over to the punch table to grab some snacks, only to accidentally run straight into Yumi and pour his drink all over her pants. 

“Oh my gosh,” he mumbled, looking up at her with terror. “I’m sorry, ma’am, I--” 

“Oh, Christ,” she groaned. “I’m going to the bathroom.” 

She stomped off, leaving the boy in the dust of her tracks. She could hear him mumble apologies to the rest of the adults, as Ulrich offered him a firm scolding. 

She went in the first stall she saw, closed it, and grabbed some toilet paper. This was the best she had, and it was a bit depressing. She aggressively rubbed into the stain, like a nurse treating a fatal war wound. It barely worked. The stain wasn’t very noticeable against the black fabric, but it still annoyed her. 

She reached into her purse, looking for something that could wipe this stain off. Just then, she heard the bathroom door open. A girl was sobbing. 

“He spilled it all over me!” she cried. “What the hell even is this, Pepsi?” It sounded like the boy had already claimed multiple victims tonight. 

“I’m pretty sure it was Coke, dear,” another woman comforted her. It was Sissi’s voice. “It’ll be okay.” 

“But you can see it!” her daughter cried. “And it’s a blue dress, so it’s really bad. Like, brown and blue do  _ not  _ mix.” 

“It doesn’t look too bad--”

“It’s called color theory, mom.” 

“Color theory isn’t my highest concern, right now. We’ll just dab it with some toilet paper--most of it got on the back of your dress, people aren’t even gonna notice.” 

“But everyone  _ saw  _ it happen already. Do you know how embarrassing that is?” 

“I’m sure it’ll be okay, sweetheart. It’s not like it’s the prettiest dress--you could’ve ruined a much nicer one, imagine!” 

“Why would you say that? Ugh, whatever, it’s not gonna--huh?” 

Yumi peeked through the gap in the stall door. The girl was digging through her purse. 

“What is it?” Sissi asked. 

“I have a phone call…” she said. “It’s from...Daniel? Why is he calling me?”

Michelle tapped to answer the call. “Hello?” she asked. “Daniel? Are you there? Hello?”

“Maybe he butt-dialed you,” Sissi suggested. 

She removed her phone from her ear. “Maybe…” Suddenly, she dropped the phone. “Ow!” she yelled. “It just...shocked me.” 

Yumi gasped.  _ No way _ . 

A black, ominous figure emerged from the sparking phone: a spectre. Both Sissi and Michelle backed away, frightened. The spectre hovered for a moment, and then suddenly lashed out at Michelle. She screeched in pain for a brief second, but the spectre silenced the sound. Michelle closed her eyes and stood still. 

“Michelle?” Sissi said. She walked up to her daughter and shook her by the shoulders. “Michelle?! Are you okay? Michelle, speak to me!” 

Her eyelids opened, and a symbol appeared in her pupils that turned Yumi’s blood cold: the Eye of XANA. Michelle let out an inhuman groan. She grabbed her mother by the arm and hurled her against the wall. Sissi cried out in alarm, and Michelle stormed out of the bathroom, slamming the door shut as she marched onto the dancefloor. 

Yumi burst through the stall door. She examined Sissi; she was conscious but clearly stunned.   
“D-did you see--” Sissi stammered, pointing at the door. 

“I did,” Yumi said calmly. 

“What was that?” she asked, her hands shaking. 

Yumi didn’t offer an answer. She walked to the door and pulled on the handle. The door didn’t budge. She pulled again, harder, but still nothing. 

“It’s locked,” she groaned in frustration.

“What?” Sissi said. “It’s locked? What kind of restroom door is locked from the outside? That’s horrible architetural design!” 

Yumi grunted. This was all XANA’s doing. She dug her into her purse to retrieve her phone. She dialed Ulrich’s number. 

“Hello?” he said. “Yumi, you still in the bathroom?” 

“XANA’s attacking,” she responded. 

“What?! Are you sure?” 

“He’s possessed Sissi’s daughter, and now we’re stuck in the bathroom.” 

“Holy crap. Okay. Okay, hold on--let me go tell the others.” 

Garbled noise came through on the other end as the phone switched hands. Jeremie’s voice spoke to her now: “Yumi, what’s happening?” 

“XANA,” she repeated. “XANA’s what’s happening. I’m trapped in the bathroom with Sissi because XANA possessed Michelle and locked us in here.” 

“What are you talking about?” Sissi asked. “Will someone offer a sane explanation?” 

“Okay,” said Jeremie, “we’ll try to bust you out of the bathroom.” 

“Jeremie, what we need to do is get to the factory--” 

“One step at a time, Yumi. We’ve done this before, we’ll do it again. We’ll be right there.” 

* * *

Cynthia could feel herself working up a sweat. She checked the time: it was only 9:30. The dance wasn’t even halfway over. She forgot how exhausting these could be. The intro of a new song started playing--a crowd favorite, judging by the uproar it elicited. She glanced at the twins, and they were prepared to go even harder for this song than the last one. She personally needed a break. She signalled to them that she was heading to the punch table. 

When she escaped from the crowd, she noticed Hiroki had appeared by her side. “Did you even try dancing?” she asked him. 

“Nah, I’m good.” 

“Loser. Wanna get some punch with me?” 

He shrugged--anything was clearly better than dancing to him. She guided him to the punch table, noticing that the chaperones had vanished from their station. Cynthia poured some red punch into her cup, while Hiroki stuffed handfuls of chips and pretzels into his mouth. 

Michelle joined them at the table. Her face was scrunched up, as if she’d smelled something bad. 

“Oh, hey, Michelle,” said Cynthia. She waited for a response, only to get blank eye contact. “Uh...something wrong?” 

She shook her head stiffly. “Where’s your dad?”

“No idea. Why? Do you need a chaperone for some--” 

“Okay. Thanks.” 

Michelle walked away to the dancefloor. Cynthia noticed there was something strange about her gait--her legs moved in a stiff, disjointed manner. And the minute she’d stopped talking, any sign of emotion vanished from her face. 

“She looked mad,” commented Hiroki. “What happened?” 

“I heard someone spilled a drink on her,” Cynthia suggested, “but she is acting weird, yeah.” 

Viktoria emerged from the crowd, her hair a disheveled mess. She took a moment to recognize Cynthia and Hiroki. “Oh, hi. Sorry, it’s dark as hell.” 

“What happened to you?” Cynthia asked. “You look like you got roughened up in that crowd.” 

She offered an exasperated look. “Daniel tried starting a mosh pit. It went as well as you expected.” 

“Jesus.” 

“Yeah, I know. I nearly peed myself. Speaking of which, where is the restroom?” 

“Oh, I’ll guide you there,” said Cynthia. “I need to go too. I think it’s outside this room, we just take a left.” 

Cynthia guided Viktoria and her brother outside the auditorium. She hadn’t realized how loud it had gotten in that room until she escaped. The sound of pure silence was a shock to her system. As she turned left into the hallway, though, she realized it wasn’t totally silent. She could hear a repeated thumping, the sound of something slamming against a wall. 

“What’s that sound?” Hiroki asked. 

“I think it’s coming from the bathroom,” she said. As they rounded the corner, she caught sight of a man struggling to enter the restroom--he was hurling himself against the door, to no avail. She eyed down his outfit--the falling glasses, the messy blonde hair, and the khaki pants all looked familiar. 

“Dad?” she asked. He turned around, looking startled. “You having trouble there?” 

“Cynthia,” he said, gasping in deep breaths. “There’s an attack.” 

“Someone’s attacking the school?” asked Viktoria. 

“ _ XANA  _ is attacking the school. He’s--” 

Cynthia heard two sets of footsteps sprinting through the hallway, the rubber soles of gym shoes squeaking against the tile. She turned around to see two more familiar faces: her uncles by everything but blood, Odd and Ulrich. 

“Dad?” Hiroki asked. “Is something wrong?” 

“Very wrong, Hiroki,” he said. “XANA’s attacking, and he’s locked your mother in the women’s restroom.” 

“She’s okay, though,” assured Cynthia’s father. “XANA’s not in there with her. He has possessed, uh, what’s her name--” 

“Sissi’s daughter,” announced a voice muffled through the bathroom door. “Michelle, I think.” 

_ Shit _ . The blank expression in her eyes, the stiff almost robotic way that she moved--Cynthia should’ve realized something really was off about Michelle. 

“So we need someone to go to Lyoko to stop XANA,” said Ulrich. It was strange to hear the adults be so upfront about Lyoko now, to witness their strategizing in the flesh. 

“But we don’t have Aelita,” pointed out Odd. 

The solution was obvious. Odd and Ulrich avoided her glance, though, looking to her father for approval. Before he could protest, Cynthia said, “I can do it, Dad. I’ve done it before. And there’s no other options.” 

“Cynthia,” he said, “you kids are out of your depth, I already told you--” 

“Mr. Belpois, we can handle it,” assured Viktoria. “I just texted the twins to come out.”

“Good planning,” said Cynthia, genuinely impressed. A smug smirk formed at the corner of Viktoria’s mouth. 

“Just let them do it,” said Ulrich. “We still need to get Yumi out of there.” 

“Fine, fine,” her father said. “Just...be safe, okay?” 

Cynthia nodded with confidence, beginning to turn around to exit the building. “We’ll get there as soon as--” 

She stopped in her tracks. A thin figure stood at the end of the hallway, a mere faceless silhouette whose shadow cast by the fluorescent lights behind it extended down the hall. But Cynthia didn’t need to guess who was greeting them, and she knew they weren’t friendly. 

In the blink of an eye, Michelle sprinted from one end of the hallway to the other, her possessed body a ghostly blur. She paid no mind to Cynthia, lunging towards Odd, pinning him against a locker. Odd struggled to escape from Michelle’s grip--her wiry frame was empowered by the spectre. 

Ulrich delivered a precise kick into her ribcage, launching her off Odd’s body as she let out a ferocious growl. Cynthia observed as the three adults all positioned into fighting stance, ready for XANA’s next move--and they needed to be ready, because Ulrich’s attack had hardly left a scratch on Michelle. 

She launched a stream of lightning towards the ceiling, causing the lights to go haywire. Sparks flew everywhere, and the adults and children alike all hit the floor for cover. With the men now vulnerable, Michelle grabbed Ulrich by the collar of his shirt and hurled him against a locker. He grunted, unable to defend himself as she perched over him, electricity jumping between her fingertips. 

Viktoria kicked her square in the back. Michelle fell only for a moment, before twisting her body around and seeking her revenge against Viktoria. Cynthia began to make a move towards her, but Michelle predicted it with ease. She knocked Viktoria down to the ground with an electrically charged punch, and then seized both Cynthia and Hiroki by their necks, hoisting them above the ground. Her XANAfied eyes stared into theirs, lit up by delight at their misery. 

Her glory was temporary, however--Michelle cried out in pain as something struck her, causing her body to glitch and freeing both of them from her grip. When she fell to the ground, Cynthia looked up and saw the two twins standing above Michelle. Their father, though still collapsed against the locker, was beaming with pride. 

“Nick of time, as always,” she said to them. 

“XANA sure has interesting taste in targets,” remarked Ophelia. “First a government worker, now a high school girl.” 

“That high school girl packs a punch,” said Viktoria, rubbing her shoulder. 

“We need to get to Lyoko,” said Flynn. “Before Michelle wakes up.” 

“One of us needs to stay,” pointed out Viktoria. “XANA seems to be going after the adults.” 

“He’s probably trying to do what he did to your father,” said Cynthia’s dad. “If he gets his hand on me, Odd, or Yumi, we won’t be able to remember anything after the supercomputer restarts the day.” 

“Either that, or XANA’s gonna barbecue us,” said Ulrich. 

“Okay,” Cynthia said, her mind and blood racing alike. “Viktoria, how about you stay? The rest of us will go.” 

“Okay, that works. You guys better be quick.” 

“You sure you can handle it by yourself?” Hiroki asked. 

She smiled. “Don’t worry, Hiroki. Mom and Dad will be fine.” 

Cynthia looked over at her dad--she couldn’t bear the sight of him getting beat up like XANA had done to her. She mouthed to him: “Stay safe.” 

He nodded. “You’ll do great, Cynth. Just like your mother.” 

* * *

The twins, Cynthia, and Hiroki scattered. Only Cynthia looked back at Viktoria as they ran through the hallway--Viktoria gave her a nod of confidence, to signal not to worry. She stood back and watched as her father and the rest of the adults shifted into high gear. 

Odd squatted down, his injury from being slammed against a locker mostly gone, and observed Michelle whose body was still glitching. “We need to get out of here, before she recovers.” 

“We need to break Yumi out,” said her father. “Otherwise, she’ll be a sitting duck for Michelle.” 

“Jeremie, how’s the door looking?” 

Cynthia’s father offered a shrug that inspired no hope. “I was working on it for a good five minutes before you guys got here, but no dice.” 

In unison, her father and Odd walked towards the restroom door, each rolling their sleeves up. “We’ll have to use brute force, like the old days,” her father said. 

Just like that, the two of them charged towards the wall, their bodies lifting themselves into the air and slamming against the door. The door fell from its hinge almost instantly upon contact--Viktoria assumed that could be attributed both to their strength and the shoddy infrastructure found in every school building. As the door clattered onto the ground, it revealed her mother sitting on the shiny tile of the bathroom floor, and another woman sitting at the back of the room with a paralyzed look in her eye. 

Odd rubbed his shoulder, wincing. “Damn, that was a lot easier when we were teenagers--hold on a second, Sissi? Einstein, you didn’t tell us there was collateral damage?” 

“What does that mean?” the woman said. Viktoria quickly connected the dots--the freckles under her eyes looked just like her daughter’s. 

“Never mind that,” said her mother, stepping over the rubble of the door. Viktoria followed her mother’s eyes, glancing down at Michelle’s body. Viktoria saw that she was coming to: her eyelids were starting to flicker open, the Eye of XANA visible. 

“We need to get out, soon,” she alerted the adults. “She’s waking up.” 

“Now, wait just a minute,” said Michelle’s mother, finally standing up from her cowardly position, and daintily stepping over the broken door. “What the hell has happened to my daughter?” 

She cried out in alarm when Viktoria’s mother forcefully grabbed her by the hand. “No time to explain,” she said. “We need to split up. Odd, Ulrich, Jeremie, you all stay together. I’ll stick with Sissi and Viktoria. We’ll meet up at our old spot, okay?” 

The three of them nodded, though Viktoria had no idea what ‘our old spot’ implied. She didn’t have time to sit and ponder. The two groups of three took off in opposite directions before Michelle could have a chance to awaken, her mother dragging Sissi as an unwilling participant, and Viktoria staying close behind, keeping her ears open for the first sign of XANA approaching. 

* * *

They made it to the factory in record time. The routine was settling in. Every turn in the sewers felt instinctive, the jump down to the ground floor of the factory felt natural. Flynn swore that his arms and legs were retaining muscle memory, even though his body reverted in time with each trip to the factory. Running through the woods, leaping over the sewage water, and pulling himself up the ladder rungs was starting to feel easier. 

He, Hiroki, and Ophelia stood by in their scanners. Cynthia began to climb up the ladder to the laboratory room to start up their virtualization. All three of them were still breathing heavily--they hadn’t stopped once on their way here. They knew the urgency. All of their parents were in danger, and now they knew what XANA’s goal was. 

Behind her exasperation, though, he noticed something else in Ophelia’s eyes, something else bothering her. “Hey,” he said, catching her attention. “Everything okay?” 

She looked at him, surprised he read her so well. “Just...Dad.” 

Flynn nodded. “Me too. He’s an expert at this, remember.” 

That gave her a weak smile. “Yeah. Still, can’t help but be worried for him. And...Viktoria, too.” 

Flynn smiled back at her. “Looks like you’re softening up on her.” Thank God--her attempts at obscuring her disdain for Viktoria were uncomfortably awkward. He was tired of trying to play mediator between the two of them. 

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell your sister that,” she warned Hiroki. 

He put his hands up defensively. “I have no loyalties to her, trust me,” he said.

“Alright,” came in Cynthia’s voice, “get ready, guys. I’m starting it up. Once you all are there, I’ll join you in a minute.” 

Over the microphone, Flynn could hear the click of a key, and the scanner doors instantly closed around them. The scanner lifted his body into the air, and the lights around him became brighter, brighter, and brighter...

In the blink of the eye, Flynn was in the virtual world. He landed on his feet, though not smoothly--he was getting better, but he wasn’t an expert. Ophelia and Hiroki both landed beside him, balancing perfectly. 

He gathered his surroundings: this was unfamiliar territory to him, but from what he could see, this was the ice sector. Ophelia had told him about this region: it was their first trip to Lyoko, when Flynn was handling the supercomputer. They had landed on a giant, blue plateau, flat except for a giant iceberg protruding in its exact middle. He noticed that unlike the forest sector, the platforms in this region lay not miles above the sea but rather directly along it, like ice floes in the polar Arctic. An accidental fall couldn’t be afforded here: the sea laid inches away from them, ready to claim its victims. 

Flynn flew up to survey the landscape. He quickly discovered the tower was in clear sight, situated on a small island of its own, just big enough to fit it. The island was connected to the mainland by two parallel bridges, each designed just wide enough to fit one person, optimistically. Of course, despite the tower’s close proximity to the warriors, their path wasn’t free of obstacles. Guarding the two bridges were two Tarantulas each. The monsters weren’t yet aware of their presence, however; the giant iceberg obstructed their view. He counted himself lucky they hadn’t glanced up and saw him hovering in midair for easy shooting. 

“What’s it look like out there?” Hiroki asked him as he returned to ground. 

“Tower’s dead ahead,” he explained, “but XANA’s got two Tarantulas stationed right around the corner.” 

As he said that, Cynthia virtualized into Lyoko and landed between him and Hiroki. She had already caught a glimpse at the map on the supercomputer and didn’t need an update. 

“Right,” she said. “It’s four against two, but let’s not be rash about this. Let’s attack with caution.” 

* * *

“Yumi!” 

They had made it outside of the auditorium, through the park, and had just made it past the cafeteria before Sissi had halted them in their tracks. Yumi seethed with frustration--how many times in her life did she have to explain this to Sissi, only for the supercomputer to wipe her memory clean? She was surprised she didn’t have a memorized speech at this point. 

“Just  _ where  _ are you taking me?” she demanded, taking her heels off of her sore feet--Yumi thought she saw blood. “More importantly, where is my daughter, and what has happened to her? You guys are acting like she’s some sort of bomb, or like she’s some infected dead body. And why on earth are you making us  _ run _ \--do you see the heels I’m wearing? These were for my fortieth birthday. It is a miracle itself that my feet still fit in these, but these shoes are surely ruined after all that running. Oh, Christ, would you look at that, one of the heels broke off--” 

“Sissi,” she interrupted. “I am very sorry this is happening to you. Your daughter is possessed.” 

“What? Are you high?” 

“No, Sissi, I’m not. Ulrich and the others will back me up on this. That’s why we’re running--if your daughter finds us, she’ll hurt us. Even you.” 

“Michelle would never lay a hand on me,” she protested. “I am a great mother, I would never raise the kind of daughter who resorts to violence.” 

“This isn’t about your parenting style. I’m sure you’re an excellent mother.” Yumi was exasperated--it was never easy getting others to believe her when it came to XANA. “But Michelle...she’s in a frenzied state of mind. She doesn’t know what she’s doing.” 

It was clear Sissi didn’t believe a word coming out of her mouth. Yumi didn’t have the time to sit her down and lay out the evidence--by now, Michelle had woken up from her slumber and was on the hunt. 

“Fine, whatever,” said Sissi. “But where are you taking me?” 

Yumi hesitated--her plan had been half-baked, admittedly. When she told the boys to meet up at ‘our spot’, she had been referring to the vending machine they frequented and unofficially claimed as their territory. The flaws in that plan were surfacing, however. Not only was the vending machine completely out in the open for Michelle to find them, but she wasn’t certain that the boys knew what she meant by ‘our spot.’ 

“We’re meeting up with the other three,” she said. “Just trust me.” 

Sissi looked over at her daughter, as if she’d find a more convincing argument from a teenager than from Yumi. Viktoria looked at her with dead eyes and said, “She’s right about everything, you know.” 

Sissi groaned. “This must be a nightmare. Someone pinch me so I’ll wake up.” 

“I wish we could wake up from this,” Yumi muttered. She grabbed her by the hand again and led her, more gently this time, over to the vending machine. Luckily, by the time Sissi had stopped them, they’d ran most of the trek. The vending machine was only a walk across the outdoor commons. 

Yumi fell down to her knees--her feet were killing her. At that moment she felt pity for Sissi, for surely her feet must have been on fire. Her daughter sat down next to her, while Sissi remained standing, dramatically fanning herself with her hand. 

“Oh, tell me she’s going to be okay, Yumi,” she pleaded, sounding tearful. 

“She will,” she said. That was a promise. 

Sissi glanced over at her, an inquisitive gleam twinkling in the corner of her eye. “Say, how do you know all this? That she’s possessed, or, whatever?” 

Fuck it, she thought. It’s not like Sissi would remember anything. 

“You know how my friends and I were always sneaking around during high school?” She nodded. “We were dealing with this stuff.” 

“Possession? Oh my God, you guys were dealing with demons? Like some sort of adolescent Ghostbusters?” 

Yumi laughed. “Close enough. What we dealt with...he sure felt like a demon.” 

Sissi nodded, as if it was the most logical, sensible thing she’d heard. Out of all the times Yumi’d spilled the truth to someone, this was maybe the calmest reaction she’d gotten. Sissi really had changed. 

Yumi looked over at her daughter, who was anxiously checking her phone for updates. “How quick are your friends at getting this done?” she asked her. 

She offered a sincerely unknowing shrug. “Honestly, Mom, I’m the biggest rookie out of all them. I have no idea.” 

“What makes you the rookie?” 

“I was the last one to find out about Lyoko,” she said. “I caught Hiroki sneaking out his window and demanded to know where he was going.” 

The thought of Hiroki sneaking out the window--there was something genetic going on there for sure. Her teenage years were filled by a lack of sleep as she awaited for a midnight call, prepared at any moment to sneak out her window without her parents being any the wiser. She’d perfected the art of cracking it open without a single sound, and upon return scaling the brick wall in complete silence. Something she prayed her kids wouldn’t have to deal with. 

* * *

Cynthia eyed up their competition. Two Tarantulas--pretty hefty monsters, but they’d dealt with larger loads before. Each Tarantula guarded their own separate bridge, their nostrils seething a glowering red. Cynthia ran through available strategies. The easiest option was one they’d relied on before: having the twins fly out while she and Hiroki approach on the ground. But Cynthia realized the risk of having the twins fly out here: one bullet to the wing and they’d tailspin into the sea. The only advantage they had right not was the element of surprise, for the Tarantulas hadn’t yet discovered them. 

“Alright, uh, what do we do?” Flynn asked. 

“Plans don’t come instantly, you know,” she retorted. 

“Our parents can’t wait forever, Cynthia,” Hiroki reminded her, as if it wasn’t on her mind. 

“I have an idea,” piped Ophelia. 

Their heads turned towards her. Cynthia looked at her best friend with admiration. It was surprising and impressing how easily she took to Lyoko compared to the others. Not only did Ophelia excel in combat, but Cynthia could always rely on her to come up with a solid plan if she couldn’t. 

Once Ophelia laid the plan out, they wasted no time in executing it. Cynthia laid back behind the iceberg with Flynn. Ophelia unfolded her wings, ready to take off at the signal. Hiroki positioned himself at the edge of the iceberg, just barely out of the monsters’ sight. 

He tossed a handful of daggers, each stabbing into the icey ground in a line of three. The ice crackled loudly, and Cynthia heard the two Tarantulas groan. Their legs stomped against the ground as they marched to inspect the noise. At that moment, Ophelia flew up above the iceberg and released a barrage of bullets down upon them. None of them made contact--Cynthia didn’t hear any explosion--but she did hear the monster scream in alarm and open fire on Ophelia. That was their cue. 

Cynthia and Hiroki charged to the right, Hiroki tossing daggers at the monsters and Cynthia forming a shield for him. His daggers just barely scratched their skin, flying past them and plunging into the sea. Cynthia cursed to herself. Missing was not part of the plan. 

The monsters noticed this mistake, and turned their attention towards the two of them. Ophelia noticed too, however, flying down to ground level as the monsters directed their cannons towards Cynthia. Before they could even fire, she wiped them out with two clean bullets straight to the head, the two of them exploding simultaneously. 

“Wow,” Flynn said to Cynthia, emerging from his hiding spot. “She is good.” 

“Impressively good,” she remarked. 

* * *

Odd had been hoping for a nice reunion. Talk with his friends, see their kids, get a drink once they were done chaperoning the dance, and then stay over at Ulrich’s for the weekend. To be frank: he had anticipated the news about Lyoko. That hadn’t been too electrifying of a shock to his system. What was a shock was having his life threatened by a teenage girl, and what was electrifying was the literal electricity she was trying to inject into their bodies. 

On an average day, with an average girl, he supposed he could outrun her. His body was definitely aging, but, as he always said, he was svelte, not scrawny. On a not-so-average day with a not-so-average, possessed girl with amplified powers, outrunning her was a bit more challenging task. 

Odd had no idea what Yumi meant by the ‘old spot’ meant. The factory? The dorms? The vending machine? The cafeteria? They’d claimed this whole campus as their spot during their adolescence, that could’ve meant anything. Jeremy had suggested the bright idea of the manhole in the woods. They’d arrived there to an empty audience, and sat there awaiting the women, thinking they’d beaten them to their destination. 

They’d assumed wrong, however, and while they were waiting they became sitting ducks for XANA. Michelle had pounced upon them in the woods, nearly frying his poor hair off with a bolt of lightning. Odd and his pals had made a beeline back to campus, unsure of where else to find Yumi and the ladies. 

Odd had decided the best course of action to inform the women of his location was to scream his lungs out. It’s not like he was giving his location away to Michelle: she was right on their heels, and she was gaining ground. It appeared she’d abandoned any human sense of feeling exhaustion. He forgot how unfair of a fight possessed people could be. 

“Odd, you’re about to blow my eardrum out,” Ulrich complained. 

“Listen, Ulrich. It’s either get your eardrum damaged, or get your brains scrambled by Sissi Junior. Don’t be picky!” 

They’d made it to the cafeteria, with no Yumi, Sissi, or Viktoria in sight, though it was hard to see anything in the pitch black. The only illumination they had was the clouded moonlight and the streetlights sparsely dispersed across campus. Just as Odd thanked the higher beings above for that light, though, a bolt of electricity flew through the air and destroyed the two nearest streetlights, the glass shattering and smoke simmering from the remnants. 

Odd began to quicken his pace, but he heard a scream come from behind. Michelle had pinned down Jeremie. Ulrich tried delivering another kick, aiming for her forehead, but Michelle foresaw the move. She caught him by his ankle and hurled him straight into the window of the cafeteria. The grass cracked behind him as his body slumped to the ground. 

“Jeremie!” yelled out Odd, running towards him. Michelle shot out lightning at his feet. Odd jumped up, feeling the electrocuted ground warm up beneath him. Michelle only needed to shoot one more stream to catch Odd. His muscles jolted and gave up on him, his body falling to the ground. 

He could barely turn his neck, but he could hear Jeremie struggle to twist out of Michelle’s grip. Odd could spot in the corner of his eyes Jeremie’s limbs flailing for freedom. His screams were silenced--when Odd could finally move, he turned and saw Michelle’s fingers pressed directly against Jeremie’s temples, a dazed look overcoming his eyes. 

A figure in all black appeared in the darkness and knocked Michelle off of Jeremie. Odd didn’t need to guess it was Yumi. She scraped the dirt off her black pants and examined Jeremie. His pupils had rolled back into his head--unconscious, but breathing. 

“She got him,” she sighed. “She got Jeremie, too.” 

“There’s no time to stand around and mope, Yumi,” said Ulrich. “We need to keep going before Michelle recovers again.” 

“Okay,” she said. “You’re right. No splitting up this time. Follow me.” 

* * *

Flynn watched his sister try to hide her smug pride after cleanly demolishing the Tarantulas in two hits. He was equal part impressed and envious--and, admittedly, a smidge disappointed that he didn’t even get to fulfill his part of the plan. He knew it didn’t matter who got the glory, though, as long as they cleared the path for Cynthia. 

“The coast is clear,” Hiroki said. “Let’s be quick.” 

Hiroki led the three of them, walking towards the two bridges connecting the tower to their platform. Flynn, Ophelia, and Cynthia all stopped in their tracks, their ears catching the sound of something approaching from the opposite side of the platform. A familiar foe greeted them: the giant bowling ball that Flynn had met during his first trip to Lyoko. The monster opened up to reveal its gooey insides, charging up its attack. The three of them had no time to warn Hiroki: the monster fired its laser wall, instantly devirtualizing his body. 

Ophelia led the two of them back behind the iceberg for temporary cover. “Cynthia, what the hell is that?” she asked. 

“I believe it’s called a Megatank,” she said. 

Flynn sighed--the names his father had come up with amazed him every time. He poked his head out: the Megatank hadn’t pursued them, but had stationed itself between the two bridges’ entry points. Its shell had closed back up, the middle lined with miniature Eyes of XANA, awaiting their approach. 

“We’ll see what it has to say to this,” Ophelia said. Her wings flapped up and she flew above the iceberg, launching multiple energy bullets towards the Megatank. The bullets made direct contact with the monster, with absoltutely no effect. 

Ophelia groaned and flew back down for cover. “It did nothing!” 

“Its shell is impenetrable,” said Cynthia. “We have to bait the Megatank and get it to open its shell and reveal the target.” 

Ophelia nodded. Flynn saw a new plan already formulating in her eyes. “Flynn, I need your help for this one.” 

On the count of three, he and his sister took flight, approaching their opponent from opposite sides. Flynn gripped his spear in his right hand as he divebombed towards he monster, while Ophelia charged up energy bullets in each palm. The Megatank opened up its shell and rotated its body left and right, deciding which of them to target. It locked on Ophelia. As the monster aimed its laser wall towards her, she fired her bullets. Her body was devirtualized as the bullets made contact, just barely missing the target, the monster’s gooey flesh absorbing the attack. 

The Megatank turned its attention to Flynn--he was too close to allow it time to charge another attack. He directed his spear straight into its eye, but the monster wasn’t out of tricks. It closed up its shell just before Flynn made contact, trapping the point of his weapon. Flynn’s tight grip on his spear as the monster clamped down on it halted his momentum. His body flailed to the ground, his wings too beat up to fly. He looked up as the monster rotated towards him, ready to pounce on its vulnerable prey. 

* * *

Viktoria breathed heavily. Despite the summer heat, the temperature of the dormitory storage room was still chilling. She was squeezed between her mother and father, yet their cumulative body heat did nothing to fight off the cold. Combine that with the chilling fear that seized her body as she anticipated for Michelle to find them at any moment, and she was breaking out into full shivers. 

Her father patted her knee, his body too constricted to reach around and embrace her--they had hid themselves between the furnace and a shelf of supplies. “You’ll be okay.” 

She wanted to believe him. She rested her head on her mother’s shoulder. Were there tears coming out of her eyes? It must have been the cold. 

“Is everything okay?” her mother asked. 

She sniffled, trying to pull the tears back in. She was  _ not  _ the type to cry. 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. She could feel her mother’s head turn--as if to ask, sorry for what? “I’m sorry for dragging you back into this.” 

“Viktoria,” she said, “this isn’t your fault. XANA coming back was out of anyone’s control.” 

She felt her throat tighten. “I’m sorry that Hiroki’s involved in this.” 

“Honey, that’s not your fault, either,” said her father. 

“If I was a better sister, I would’ve known this was happening,” she said. “If I was a better sister, he would’ve trusted me enough, and I would’ve known about this. I just don’t--” She gasped, wiping away the wetness on her cheek. “I just don’t want him to get hurt, because it would be my fault.” 

“Uh, this is a very touching family moment to watch,” said Michelle’s mother, sitting across the room next to Odd. “But are we sure right now is the right moment? My daughter is possessed and trying to kill us--is anyone going to explain that?” 

“We don’t have the time, Elisabeth,” said Odd. “And you’re not gonna--” 

He fell silent--a loud  _ thump  _ echoed from beyond the door. The smell of electricity and something burning signalled to them that Michelle was near. 

The door to the storage room burst open, falling to the ground. Michelle kicked it aside easily. Lightning danced between her fingertips as she lurched towards them. Viktoria spotted a popping vein on her forehead that accentuated the pure bloodlust in her XANAfied eyes. 

“Enough is enough,” she said, her voice distorted. “There’s nowhere else to run.” 

* * *

Cynthia had remained in hiding while the twins took care of the last monster. Ophelia’s devirtualization hadn’t worried her much--their plan had involved one of the twins being a sacrificial lamb. When she heard Flynn scream, and when she didn’t hear the Megatank explode, she knew something was off. 

She ran out and exposed her cover to see Flynn had fallen to the ground, his spear trapped in the Megatank’s body. The monster opened up its shell, discarding the weapon: the spear’s metal body clanked against the ground before tipping over the edge of the platform into the sea. 

Cynthia had no time to think--the moment the Megatank opened its shell, she knew it had already begun its next attack. She pointed her staff at the monster, concentrating her energy. She never knew how exactly her weapon worked. It was as if the rod was a channel, a guide for the energy within her virtual body--she could feel it move from the center of her chest, surging through her arms to the tip of her fingers, the wave climaxing at the glowing pink orb of her staff. 

She felt the energy escape her. She opened her eyes--sometimes, she was uncertain just  _ what  _ the energy would do. Whether it would create or destroy matter; whether it would cause her enemies to explode, or create a giant rock that would crush them. She saw to her surprise that the Megatank had been completely encased in ice. Flynn looked at her, just as confused. 

“You surprise me every day, Cynthia.” 

“I’m just as surprised,” she whispered to herself. 

* * *

Yumi stood up the moment Michelle burst into the room. She knew what the stakes were. XANA had two targets in mind: Odd and Yumi. He’d already accomplished his goal with Ulrich. All attention would be on the two of them. 

Her husband ran ahead of her and Odd, brandishing a bar he’d picked up from the floor as his makeshift weapon. Michelle sidestepped his attack and attempted to electrocute his forearm. He delivered a clean kick to her abdomen, irritating her more than it injured her. Her fingertips wrapped around the metal bar--Yumi gasped, too far away to stop her--and sent a wave of electricity into the metal, causing Ulrich to spasm and fall down. 

“Alright, XANA,” muttered Odd. “We’ve done this dance before a million times, and we won a million times. How are we gonna do this?” 

Michelle seethed, her body glitching for a moment. Yumi eyed her down--she was wiry, but nimble enough to dodge their attacks if they came at her one-on-one. 

“Odd,” she said, her mouth curling into a smirk. “Lateral flight pattern and pincer strategy?” 

“What on Earth--” A look of reckoning came over his face. “Man, you have a good memory, Yumi. Great plan.” 

They charged towards Michelle, each roaring with a fury just as loud as hers. 

* * *

Cynthia crossed the bridge, twisting her head left and right for any last minute defense sent in by XANA. The coast was clear, for real this time. She entered the tower, running to the center of the platform. 

* * *

Odd quickly realized that XANA might have just as good a memory as Yumi. The teenage girl foresaw their strategy with professional ease. As Yumi attempted a flying kick at Michelle, she shot her down with a flick of the hand, the lightning causing Yumi’s body to drop like a fly. Michelle then grabbed the bar Ulrich had dropped and hit Odd square in the kneecap. He hollered in pain. 

“Since when do you use weapons, you ass?” he whined. “This is worse than electricity!” 

Michelle paid no mind to him, wandering over to Yumi’s collapsed body. Odd could hardly even stand back up, and all he could was watch as XANA prepared to brainwash his friend. 

* * *

Cynthia landed on the top platform of the tower and quickly walked to the holograph awaiting for her, firmly resting her hand on it.

* * *

Viktoria had stood back and watched her parents duel with XANA, amazed at their practiced prowess. But it was clear XANA was just as much of a pro with the way he tossed her mother and Odd aside one after the other. 

It wasn’t her own decision, running towards Michelle to save her mother. It was natural. It was family instinct. But if XANA could see her mother’s next move, Viktoria’s next move had been even more transparent. Michelle lifted up a hand, and Viktoria screeched as her body was suddenly lifted into the air, encaged in a field of electricity. Her skin was on fire and her throat was burning.

* * *

The holograph read those two fateful words: CODE LYOKO. 

“Now, Hiroki,” she signalled. “Press the key.” 

* * *

Yumi urged her body to move, to lift an arm or swing a leg at Michelle, but not a muscle in her body could obey her command. She watched as XANA electrocuted her own daughter with one hand, while lowering the other to grab Yumi by the collar of her shirt. The tingling electricity burnt the skin of her chin. 

Yumi looked directly into XANA’s eyes. She wasn’t afraid--she might not remember this moment, but she was never afraid of XANA anymore. 

Before he could finish his job, though, a white light swallowed the whole room. And Yumi smiled. 

* * *

Viktoria stepped away from the crowd, in desperate need of a breather. Going back in time did not prevent Daniel from trying to start a mosh pit. Somehow, his success had been greater. She had wondered what could have changed this, and then amidst the chaos Viktoria had noticed that the twins were flinging their bodies left and right, fanning Daniel’s flames. After enduring not even a minute in the crowd, she had to escape--this time, Viktoria lost one of her shoes in the pit. A bit disgruntled, she retreated to one of the benches lining the walls of the auditorium, sitting down and massaging her foot.

“What on earth happened to you?” 

She looked up--Cynthia had fallen victim to the most pit as well. The sleeve of her blouse had a tear in it. She sat next to her, fanning herself with her hand. 

“Daniel happened,” she explained. 

Cynthia started scrolling through her phone, the boredom clear as day in her eyes. “You know, your brother was right about one thing,” she said. “The music here  _ sucks _ .” 

She scoffed. “Don’t let him hear you say that. That’ll validate his whole shtick. But it’s a dance, they gotta play music for everyone. What kind of music would you want?” 

A sheepish look crossed her face. “You’re gonna judge me.” 

“You’re embarrassed of your music taste?” 

“Around you, yes. I mean, what do you listen to?” 

Viktoria shrugged. “A lot of old stuff, I don’t know. It’s all over the place. Joni Mitchell, Amy Winehouse, Led Zeppelin...” 

Cynthia melodramatically cringed with her entire body. Viktoria laughed at her. “First of all, Amy Winehouse being old? And second of all, that proves your point. You’d hate my music taste.” 

Cynthia suddenly screeched when Viktoria snatched her phone from her hands. She searched for her Spotify in the search bar and took a cursory look through her library. She snorted. 

“Stop it.” 

“Bleachers, Ariana Grande--and a whole lot of Taylor Swift.” 

“I said stop it.” 

Viktoria grinned at her. “There’s nothing wrong with liking pop.” 

“You are so just saying that. If you didn’t know me you’d be judging me hard.” 

“But I  _ do  _ know you,” she pointed out. 

Cynthia rolled her eyes, but that didn’t hide the goofy grin on her face. The grin shifted into a devilish smirk. “You know who else  _ loves  _ Taylor Swift?” 

“Don’t try to change the conversation, Cynthia. Nice try--” 

“Your brother.” 

She gasped. Heads in the crowd turned, but Viktoria couldn’t care less. At that same moment, she saw Hiroki break off from the crowd, wandering towards their bench. 

“Hiroki Takeho Ishiyama,” she said, standing up. “You like Taylor Swift?” 

He looked Cynthia dead in the eye, glowing with fury. “You heartless traitor.” 

Cynthia cackled like a witch. “She forced it out of my hand.” 

“Is this why you never tell me your music taste?” she asked. 

Hiroki looked at her like she was an idiot. “Uh, yeah, what do you think?” 

“There is nothing wrong with Taylor Swift, Hiroki! I even have some of her songs in my library. I’m just glad we’re finally getting some brother-sister bonding time.” 

Hiroki rolled his eyes, his cheeks a blazing red. “Whatever.” 

* * *

Odd took another swig of the punch juice, pouring every last drip of his cup onto his tongue. Maybe coming to a high school dance wasn’t so bad. Whatever the administration had put into this was  _ good _ . 

“Odd, you pig,” remarked Ulrich. “Your lips are completely red. You look like a clown.” 

He licked his lips twice over. “How about now?” Ulrich gave him a firm shake of the head. Odd sighed. “Give me a break, good buddy. I gotta cope with this music somehow.” 

“This song is at least tolerable,” said Yumi. 

Jeremie scoffed at Odd. “As if the music you listened to in high school wasn’t even more mind numbing.” 

Odd punched him lightly in the shoulder--Jeremie shoved him off. It had been quite a shock to Jeremie’s system this morning when he learned of the last attack, according to Yumi. He couldn’t believe that his downfall was Sissi’s daughter; at least Ulrich had fallen down to a massive horde of spiders. Odd agreed--that was a much more respectable fate. 

He and the rest of the gang could attend the dance at ease tonight. XANA rarely attacked so quickly in succession. He’d had a good night so far. Catching up with Jeremie and Yumi was great, and he even accidentally ran into Jim earlier today on the way to the bathroom--that turned his bathroom break into a thirty minute conversation with Odd as Jim’s hostage. He’d even had a good chat with Sissi tonight about their college years. 

And of course, Odd enjoyed watching their kids be kids. Hiroki and Viktoria were in the midst of some argument, while Jeremie’s daughter spectated, smiling devilishly at the entertainment. Meanwhile, his twins were still rocking hard in the crowd. Flynn was banging his head to the song like his life depended on it, while Ophelia stood at his back mimicking an air-guitar. Two moves Odd had stunned the crowd with at many a dance. Maybe it was genetic. 

Yumi and Ulrich stood by his shoulder, watching his kids with him. “They really are just like you, huh,” said Ulrich. 

Odd beamed with pride. “I wouldn’t want them to be any other way. Thank God they’re cool. I think your kids are about to hurt each other worse than Michelle did to us.” 

Yumi shrugged. “It looks like they’re smiling from here. They’ve had worse fights.” 

“What an attentive mother,” remarked Odd. 

Jeremie looked up, scanning the room for all of their kids. “We’re all going to need to have a talk with them,” he said. “And soon.” 

Yumi nodded solemnly. “If XANA keeps escalating things, we need to prepare these kids.” 

Odd looked up from the punch table. Hiroki’s face was furiously red at something Viktoria said. Viktoria had a mischievous smile on her face, while Cynthia was visibly holding back laughter. As the song came to an end, the twins ran over to their friends. Cynthia muttered something to them, and both Ophelia and Flynn threw back their heads, roaring with laughter. Odd remembered how rare opportunities like this were for him and his friends at Kadic. They were never able to relax--the moment they thought they were in the clear, XANA would pounce at them with his next attack. Watching their kids relish in one of those rare moments, though… Odd couldn’t help but smile. 

“We’ll talk later,” he said. “For now, let’s let them be kids. They deserve it.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two more characters from the OG series: Odd and Sissi! I had a lot of fun writing their dialogue for this chapter, if you could tell. And we finally got all five of the OG Lyoko Warriors reunited. Next chapter we'll see how the adults take it up a notch and help their children fight against XANA. Thanks for reading again!


	6. Infiltration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow... 50 kudos and over 100 hits. Thank you to all the readers yet again! Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Her mother’s fingers navigated the keyboard with ease. Though the age of her hands was marked by their loose skin, they found each key as if they’d never left the factory. Her eyes remained focused on the computer monitor, while her fingertips simultaneously clicked key after key in perfect sequence. 

Nearly a week had passed since the last attack. The night after the dance, Cynthia’s parents had sat her down for another talk, realizing the gravity of the situation. XANA had claimed her father as his next victim, and all five of their parents had agreed it was imperative that their kids be prepared. 

Her parents had disclosed two key pieces of information to her that Saturday. First, her mother revealed to Cynthia her grandfather’s involvement with the supercomputer. Upon hearing this news she’d adopted a stoic face--they still didn’t know she’d discovered the diary, and her grandfather’s creation of Lyoko had been one of the first things she’d learned from it. Her mother provided further context lacking in the diary: her grandparents’ involvement in Project Carthage, her grandmother’s disappearance and her grandfather subsequently changing his identity from Waldo Schaeffer to Franz Hopper. How Cynthia’s mother had laid dormant on Lyoko for a decade before her father discovered her, with no memory of her past life. Most grim of all, how her grandfather sacrificed his life so her mother and her friends could destroy XANA. 

Cynthia had understood why her mother rarely spoke about her family. Her parents informed her that none of her friends knew this information and asked her to keep it that way for now. She had agreed to that. 

The second piece of information pertained to Cynthia herself. She’d never understood why only she held the power to stop XANA’s attacks--she had never really questioned it. Her parents had explained to her that she possessed something known as the keys to Lyoko. 

“Only three other people have had the keys to Lyoko before you,” her father had said. “Your grandfather, your mother, and XANA.” 

“How did I...er, acquire these keys? Is it something genetic?” 

Her mother had shaken her head. “No, we don’t believe so. Someone would have to have given you the keys.” 

Cynthia had cocked her head. “But the only one who could do that--” 

“--is XANA.” 

Their thesis had been inconclusive: they had no explanation as to why XANA would enable Cynthia to stop his attacks. Cynthia had proposed one theory, wondering whether the Scyphozoa’s attack against her a few weeks ago had anything to do with this. Her parents, though, seemed certain that wasn’t the case. Nonetheless, they wanted her to be aware of this nonetheless while they aimed to figure out his motive. 

Although nearly a week had passed, Cynthia hadn’t shared any of this information with her friends. Even when she learned about her grandfather’s past in her mother’s diary, she’d kept it to herself. As far as the rest of them knew, their parents had stumbled upon XANA just like they had. None of them even knew her mother had been trapped in the supercomputer. It was out of character for her to keep secrets--at the very least, she would tell Ophelia. But there was never any stakes, any weight in the secrets she told her friends. The gravity of this revelation kept her hesitant to discuss it. 

She snapped out of her dazed state. Her father was explaining something important--the commands to activate some program. Her parents had taken Cynthia and her friends to the factory to introduce them to the basics of the supercomputer--they thought it imperative that they have access to these tools to fight XANA. Her mother was typing out the commands while her father lectured them. They worked so seamlessly as a team, never a moment of hesitation in her mother’s movements or her father’s words. Odd had also come, acting as ‘moral support’ in his own terms. 

Cynthia quickly scribbled down her father’s words onto her notebook--she was the only one of her friends to have brought paper and pen. Ophelia and Flynn were at least paying attention; she wondered how much of this they could really understand. She herself struggled to absorb the content, focusing on the key material (that being the commands her mother typed). Viktoria was visibly dazed; the computer stuff always flew over her head. Cynthia couldn’t tell whether Hiroki was just as dazed or simply tired. The time on the computer read that it was nearly midnight, and they had school tomorrow. 

“The superscan is a critically important program,” her father explained. “If you program it into your laptop or desktop, it will alert you to XANA’s attack the moment he activates a tower. Without this program, XANA can easily catch you off guard.” 

Cynthia nodded, though she wasn’t sure any of them were competent enough to program something like that. She glanced at Flynn--he shook his head doubtfully. Nevertheless, Cynthia wrote down _tower scanner for laptop_ and tried to note the commands her mother typed. She eyed the list of other programs her parents had demonstrated: virtualization, materialization, returning to the past, and activating the factory’s security cameras--Cynthia had been clueless about the existence of any cameras. 

“Wait, wait, wait,” said Odd--he was sitting up against the wall, playing some game on his cell phone. “I have a question. You kids didn’t know any of these programs before, right?” 

They shook their heads. “How did you figure Lyoko out, then? Like, how did you virtualize each other? Trial and error? Anytime I tried pressing random keys, I usually ended up creating a virus.” 

Cynthia’s parents looked at them inquisitively. “Well,” said Ophelia, “the first time we went to Lyoko, Flynn operated the computer--his memory got wiped after, though. But I remember he said a window popped up that gave him instructions.” 

“Really?” said Cynthia’s mother, turning around in her chair. 

“Something like, press this key to virtualize, or press this key to return to the past.” 

Her mother locked eyes with her father. Cynthia had seen this before: it was the same worried look they exchanged when they found out Cynthia had passed out because of the supercomputer. 

“Is that bad?” she asked. 

“Bad?” her father repeated. “No, not bad. But we’ve never seen the computer do anything like that. It’s curious, not bad.” 

Odd yawned loudly, standing up from his perch. “It’s almost midnight. You kids got school tomorrow, don’t you? I think you should head back to your dorms. When’s your curfew, anyways?” 

“Almost two hours ago,” Flynn said. 

“Ah, crap. Well, you need all the sleep you can get. Go ahead, kiddos. We’ll come up in just a sec.” 

Cynthia filed into the elevator with the rest of her friends. She waved goodbye to her parents and Odd, each of them giving her reassuring smiles of confidence as she departed. The elevator creaked against the metal walls as it rose to the next floor. 

“What did you guys think?” asked Flynn. 

“It was a lot of information,” Viktoria said. 

“And there’s still plenty more programs to learn, from what it sounds like,” said Hiroki. 

“Yeah,” Ophelia agreed. “Your parents did not like what I told them about the computer.” 

She looked directly at Cynthia. She shrugged. “Your guess is good as mine.” 

She snorted as the elevator door opened up. “Looks like they’re still keeping their secrets.” 

* * *

Aelita hoisted her body with the rope up to the upper factory floor. Jeremie held out his hand to catch her as she landed on the ground. She looked out onto the bridge just in time to witness their kids disappear into the manhole--taking the stealthy route back to Kadic. 

“Man,” said Odd, as he walked out onto the bridge. “You guys really put them through the wringer. I remember when you tried teaching us the supercomputer in Lyoko bootcamp. Went right through our heads!” 

“Went right through _your_ head, Odd,” said Jeremie dryly. “Yours and Ulrich’s. Yumi at least gave the computer a shot.” 

“And great for her--she’s always had a solid head on her shoulders. Some people are better at the computer, while others are better...well, you know, doing the real work. Fighting!” Aelita and Jeremie both scoffed. 

“And man, you guys kept them till almost midnight. I feel bad for the poor kids.” 

“It’s important that they know this stuff, Odd,” Jeremie said. 

“Yeah, but they’re also students. They have homework, too. I’m not paying their pricey tuition for them to flunk.” 

“They wouldn’t be the first Della Robbia to flunk Kadic.” 

“Yeah, they’d just be living up to their father’s legacy,” jested Aelita. 

“Screw off, you two lovebirds. I didn’t drive down here two weekends in a row just to be viciously harassed.” 

They walked in silence to the end of the bridge. As much silence as possible, that is; Aelita could hear the engines of passing city traffic, the quiet splashing waves of the river below, and the occasional whistling melody from Odd. She smiled when she recognized the tune--an old cut from a Subdigitals album. 

Odd was grinning like the teenager that she met at Kadic had never left, walking with the same exact swagger; but the look on Jeremie’s face was grim. It was a familiar expression: something was bothering him beneath the surface. She’d seen this face many a time before; during college, when he worried about covering his rent, or during Kadic, when he struggled to balance his grades and saving the world. 

“Jeremie,” she said, “is something wrong?” 

A slight but firm nod. “Something’s bothering me about XANA.” 

Odd scoffed. “What, the fact that he somehow came back to life? Yeah, something’s fishy about that.” 

His joke failed to make Jeremie smile. “No, not that. It’s his motive.” 

Aelita stopped walking. “What do you mean?” 

His pupils darted left and right. She knew that face as well--he was searching for the proper words to articulate his point. 

“He kidnapped and virtualized our daughter and Odd’s son. It’s almost like...like he _wanted_ them to discover Lyoko. I mean, he practically guided them to the scanners. And then what Ophelia mentioned--the computer guiding them through the programs. Someone had to be controlling the monitor, telling our kids how to operate the supercomputer.” 

Aelita nodded. “And you think XANA was providing them with instructions, do you?” 

“Exactly. He’s giving them all the tools to stop his attacks. Without his help, they wouldn’t know how to get to Lyoko, or how to revert the consequences of his attacks. Without his help, they wouldn’t even _know_ about Lyoko!” 

“So the question is,” she said, “why? 

His fingertips played with the collar of his shirt. He shook his head, coming up with no answer. 

They resigned from the question, heading home for the night. When they reached the end of the bridge, they parted ways with Odd for the night--he was crashing at Yumi and Ulrich’s again. Cynthia and Jeremie didn’t exchange another word on their way home, content to walk along side each other in easy silence. 

Her mind wandered away from the question of XANA’s motive. As she looked across the moonlit river, the factory from this distance a faceless shadow, she thought of her daughter. Who knew she’d end up carrying the family legacy? Now Lyoko had claimed three generations of the Schaeffer bloodline. Aelita wondered what her father would feel--guilt for exposing her child to such evil, or pride at the strength she exhibited?

From an early age, she was cognisant of her daughter’s brewing potential. Odd always joked they’d bred a miniature clone of her--a “Mrs. Einstein junior,” he called Cynthia. They always told their daughter that she could achieve anything she set her bright mind to--but Aelita never wanted her daughter to feel pressured. Yet she couldn’t imagine any pressure heavier than fighting XANA. Aelita knew firsthand that protecting humanity from a computer program wasn’t a light weight on anyone’s shoulders. So naturally, she worried for her daughter. She never wanted Cynthia to carry on their twisted family legacy. She wanted to raise her in a normal world, blissfully ignorant of the kind of adolescence Aelita had lived out. 

Life could never be easy for her family. She’d learned that the moment she’d lost her mother. To think she’d ever settle into a regular, peaceful routine was wishful dreaming. 

* * *

Flynn squatted at the desk, his back hunched over as his fingers carefully pecked at his laptop’s keyboard. The air had been stiff with silence for the past five minutes while he concentrated on his work, eyes darting between his screen and the sheets of notebook paper sprawled out on the desk. He had almost forgotten about the two girls perching over his shoulders until his sister let out a deep sigh, blowing air straight into his ear. 

“You’re breathing loudly,” he commented, wiping the itch on his ear with his shoulder. 

Cynthia laughed, but Ophelia wasn’t as entertained. “Is it a crime to breathe?” 

He eyed the sheet of paper moved by her exhalation. “It is if it interferes with my work.” 

“ _Our_ work. This is a team project.”

“On _my_ laptop. And I’m doing all the typing.” 

Flynn had snuck his way back into the dorms, evading the watchful eye of any faculty wandering campus, and presumptively crashed into his mattress. His body did not agree with practicing coding past midnight, and he had hoped to catch a break this weekend. But the next day, once classes had ended, Cynthia had asked him to come to her and Ophelia’s dorm to work on the superscan program. Flynn could imagine several more ideal ways to spend his Friday afternoon, but Cynthia had insisted. He knew refusing her request would only delay the inevitable, so he’d yielded. Upon watching her mother type in line after line of code, he had been doubtful that programming it on his laptop would be easy. So far, his gut feeling had been correct. 

He leaned back into the chair, biting down on the bony knuckle of his finger. He glanced at the papers: there were seven sheets (Cynthia had asked her parents to transcribe the commands), and Flynn had finished the first page of sheet one. 

“How’s it looking?” his sister asked. 

“Slow,” he said. “I don’t think this can be done in an afternoon.” 

“Are you sure?” inquired Cynthia. 

“Unless I don’t eat dinner and also don’t sleep tonight. Then I might come close to being a quarter of the way done.” 

Cynthia sighed, disappointed. “I was hoping you could program it on my laptop, too.” 

Flynn looked at her like she was insane. “Do you think I’m some slave? This alone will take several days.” 

“I know, I know. I was just thinking it could be helpful to have more than one superscanners, in case we’re separated.” 

A glint of determination dotted each of her blue pupils. In the past few days, Flynn was becoming more and more impressed at the work ethic his friend possessed. All five of them clearly cared about stopping XANA, but the dedication Cynthia had towards the cause was admirable, to say the least. 

Flynn sighed. “Wishful thinking,” he grumbled. “Can’t your dad just program it for us? Or your mom?” 

“They both have jobs. I’m not sure if they’ll have the time.” 

“May I remind you I’m a student before your programming monkey. I hardly have the time either.” 

Cynthia and Ophelia both giggled. “Okay, monkey,” said Cynthia. “As your gracious and powerful employer, I’ll let you off the hook for the rest of today. I expect you at eight a.m. sharp tomorrow morning. In uniform.” 

He glared at her. “You better be joking.” 

“We’ll pay you minimum wage, don’t worry,” said Ophelia. 

He rolled his eyes at the two girls, laughing their asses off at their own joke. He rose up from the desk chair and flung himself onto his sister’s bed. Ophelia and Cynthia sat across from him on the other bed, murmuring each other as they scanned the sheets of paper. 

Those two amazed him. Their natural charisma and years of friendship was a formula for excellent teamwork. They made everything about Lyoko look easy. Ophelia fought virtual monsters as if she was born for it. Flynn still hadn’t figured out how she flew so gracefully through the air--he envied her for that. And Cynthia had so naturally assumed the role of leader of the group. She’d come into a new form in the past week, whipping the rest of the group into shape--she was forcing Ophelia, Viktoria, and Hiroki to study the programs at the library later this evening. Flynn didn’t know how she maintained such a fearless, confident appearance; he wondered how much of it was genuine. 

It was miraculously fateful that the two of them were such close friends. Flynn thanked the stars for that. He noted the focused look in Ophelia’s eyes as she studied the papers--she surely didn’t understand half of what it said, but he knew she was trying for Cynthia’s sake. Ophelia would whisper a joke to Cynthia about how her mother’s writings were like another language, and the stern look laid out on Cynthia’s face would wash away in an instant, a giddy laugh overtaking her body. 

He used to envy Cynthia--at times, he’d even feared that she’d replace him. That was when she and Ophelia had first reconnected in eighth grade, and Ophelia was strangely obsessed with her. Flynn chalked that up to middle school weirdness; his sister toned down by freshman year. And after a year of knowing Cynthia, he knew it was silly to fear anything. The three of them worked as a trio; they were sometimes even mistaken for siblings, with Cynthia’s hair the same shade of blonde as Ophelia’s. 

Cynthia’s phone buzzed. She flipped it over and checked the time. “Oh, shoot,” she said. “Time for boot camp at the library. Ophelia, are you coming?” 

She twisted to the mirror hanging above her desk and grimaced at her reflection. “I think I need a moment to freshen myself up before I go out in public,” she said. “Go on ahead without me. I’ll be there in a sec.”

Cynthia nodded and shut the door behind her. Ophelia sprung up from her bed, grabbed her brush, and began taking care of her unkempt hair. 

She caught Flynn’s eye in the reflection, staring at her from behind. “What?” she asked. 

He shook his head, flipping onto his back. “Nothing. You’ll get mad at me if I ask.” 

That caught her attention. She turned around, putting the brush back down. “Now you have to tell me.” 

He twisted his head--that look on her face meant he had no choice. He sighed. “Fine. What do you think of Viktoria?” 

That cocked an eyebrow. “That’s a weird question. We’ve already talked about this, Flynn.” 

“It’s a warranted question. And that was awhile ago--when she just joined the group. Things have changed.” 

“Why are you asking?” 

“Answer my question first.” 

She sighed and turned back to the mirror, running her hands through her hair. “I don’t hate Viktoria,” she said. “She’s a good person. Do I think she can be bossy and stubborn sometimes? Definitely. She’s just...like, a coworker. We work together to stop XANA.” 

“Wow,” Flynn said. “That is cold. And distant.” 

“Oh, give me a break, Flynn. I mean, what do you think?” 

“I have no problem with Viktoria!” he declared. “I think she’s lovely.” 

“Really?” Both of her eyebrows jumped up her forehead. 

“The fact that you’re surprised speaks volumes to your disdain.”

She scoffed again, picking up her brush. “Whatever. Why’d you ask?” 

“Well, she and Cynthia have been getting closer, so I was--” 

She whipped her neck around. “They are?” 

It took a Herculean effort not to laugh at her. “I mean, I think so,” he said. “They were having a good time at the dance last week, and I’ve just noticed them talking more than before.” 

“Why is that relevant to what I think of Viktoria?” 

He hesitated. This was dangerous territory. “Well… You know, you and Cynthia are best friends, and sometimes you get...jealous of her other friends.” 

He wasn’t sure if he actually saw a vein pop in her forehead, or if it was a trick of the mirror. “Oh my God,” she said, rolling her eyes even harder. “Are you serious?” 

“Yes! And you act like...like this married couple, and you’re the husband who gets jealous of any man his wife hangs around.” 

She turned around, just so Flynn could see the melodramatic disgust on her face. “First of all, ew,” she said. “Second of all, why am I the husband?” 

Flynn shrugged, a coy smile forming. “I don’t know. You have masculine features.” 

She flipped him off. 

“I am not _jealous_ ,” she said defensively. “Viktoria’s personality just doesn’t gel well with mine. It happens. And given how she used to treat Cynthia, sometimes I get worried. Whatever. Now can you get out so I can change?” 

Flynn exited the dorm, getting one last look at her disgruntled face in the mirror and snickering to himself. 

* * *

Hiroki’s eyes glazed over the sheets of paper, laid out neatly in front of him on the library table. He couldn’t believe this was how he was spending his study hall, against his will. He thought of the load of homework assigned over the weekend that he could be doing instead. Or, more likely, he’d be sleeping; either option was preferable. But no--Cynthia was forcing the four of them to study the programs her parents had taught them last night. 

He glanced over at his companions. Cynthia herself was intently reading through the sheets of paper, muttering to herself as she memorized them. When she finished reading one page, she’d pull out a blank piece of paper and begin scribbling down what she’d just memorized. Hiroki hadn’t expected any less from his friend; her study habits eclipsed everyone else’s. Sitting across from her was Ophelia, visibly struggling to maintain the same level of focus. Across from Hiroki sat his sister, who constantly shook her head and whispered frustrated utterances to herself. At least someone was in the same boat as him. Excluding their foursome, the library was practically vacant, barring Mrs. Shu supervising at the other side of the room. It appeared the rest of the student body had more exciting ways to spend their Friday evening. 

Hiroki leaned over to Cynthia and whispered, “How long are we expected to do this?” 

She eyed him suspiciously. “What, do you have plans? With who?” 

Cold and to the punch. “Don’t you remember, my parents and Odd are inviting yours to dinner tonight?” 

“That’s true,” piped up Viktoria. “It’s almost dinner time.” 

“I thought that was just an adult thing,” said Cynthia. “I didn’t think us teens were invited.” 

“Okay,” he admitted, “maybe not, but--” 

“Nice try, Hiroki. I know studying this isn’t fun, but it’s important.” 

Hiroki sighed, rolling the back of his head against the chair. “Why does Flynn get out of this, but we don’t?” he whispered to her. 

“He already did his work today,” she responded. Flynn had mentioned at lunch Cynthia and his sister were holding him captive in their dorm for the afternoon. Hiroki didn’t know whose hell was worse. 

“Lucky guy,” he muttered. “I don’t see how staring at paper will help us fight XANA.” 

“Hiroki, someone has to be at the computer.” She scooted closer to him, pulling one of the sheets towards him. “It’s only three programs--virtualization, materialization, and return to the past. How to get someone on and off Lyoko, and then how to turn back time. If you wanna get some practice, just type the keys on your laptop.” 

“That makes it sound way easier than it actually is.” 

“Could you for once in your life not be so defeatist and actually put effort into this? It’s important.” 

“Cynthia, I am trying,” he protested. “Learning doesn’t come so easily to me. I don’t have your brain.” 

“It’s not algebra. It’s, just, memorizing.” 

“It’s programming. That’s worse than algebra.” 

“Oh, good Lord, Hiroki.” Cynthia scoffed. “Just try.” 

From the back of the room, Mrs. Shu loudly cleared her throat. Hiroki’s face turned red--he hadn’t realized the volume their conversation had escalated to. They were the only ones in the library, so he wasn’t sure why it mattered. He wasn’t gonna push it. Cynthia scooted back to her spot, sharing a mischievous smirk with Ophelia. Hiroki kept his head down and eyes on the paper. 

He understood what each line on the paper meant. The instructions were simple enough: hit this key, hit that key. A kindergartener could understand it. The problem was memorizing the commands in sequence. If he couldn’t manage it now, Hiroki doubted he could recall these on the spot under the pressure of a XANA attack. He wanted to be useful to the team, and this wasn’t how. He knew where his strengths lay: on Lyoko, fighting the monsters. 

He sighed, loudly. He felt Viktoria look up at him. “She’s right, you know.” 

He glanced up. “What?” he asked. 

“Your defeatist attitude,” she murmured, eyes on her sheet. 

Hiroki already felt his blood begin to boil. It was worse coming from his sister. “What do you know,” he said dismissively. 

“I’m just saying,” Viktoria said, “you can’t give up just because you’re not instantly good at something.” 

“I’m not _giving up_. I’m just...frustrated. Don’t act like this isn’t hard for you, either. I can see the look on your face.” 

“It’s hard, of course, but I’m still trying. I understand how serious this is--we need to do this if we wanna work as a team to stop XANA.” 

“I understand that, Vik, I don’t need you to explain it to me.” 

“Guys,” interrupted Ophelia, “shut up. Not only are you gonna get us in trouble, but I also cannot focus with the bickering.” 

“Sorry,” they both muttered. 

Why, oh why did his sister have to be involved with Lyoko? He wondered that too often these days. 

Of course he understood the magnitude. XANA was a threat to them, and their families. Hiroki had seen the fear in his mother’s eyes when she was surrounded on all sides by the black widow spiders. He remembered his father’s unconscious body in the infirmary. He never wanted that to happen again. And he could comprehend how vital this information was. Spending five minutes to struggle to virtualize the others versus thirty seconds if he had it memorized--time like that was essential during XANA’s attacks. Time like that was the thin line between life or death. They’d been lucky so far, but Hiroki wasn’t sure how many more lucky breaks XANA would offer them. 

Either way, Hiroki didn’t need Viktoria to break it to him. He was well aware. 

* * *

Returning to her dorm, Cynthia saw Ophelia sitting at their desk, tweezing her eyebrows in the mirror. She twisted her head slightly as the door opened. 

“There’s our little general,” Ophelia said. 

Cynthia collapsed onto her bed, her body sitting into her mattress and pile of pillows. She didn’t respond, only staring at the ceiling and taking deep breaths. Since last night, she’d hardly had a moment to think to herself. 

“You good?” Ophelia asked. 

“Yeah,” Cynthia replied. “Just tired.” 

Ophelia twisted around in her chair. “You’ve been working hard with all this supercomputer stuff. It’s not a crime to relax, you know.” 

She grinned. “I know, I know. I just think it’s important that we learn everything we can--we have to really drill it into our heads. How do you think the study session went?” 

Ophelia stifled a laugh. “I think I was the only one who benefitted from it,” she admitted. “From what I saw, all that stuff was flying right over Viktoria and Hiroki’s heads.” 

Cynthia sighed--she had expected that assessment. “I’ll just need to make them study it more.” 

“Remember, these are human beings, not mindless soldiers.” 

Cynthia lifted her head up from her pillow and sat her back against the wall of her bed. “I don’t want to put a lot of pressure on them,” she said, her eyes downcast. “But I don’t want XANA to hurt our parents, and memorizing these programs could be essential.” 

Ophelia nodded. “Of course, I understand,” she said. “Just don’t go too hard on them. And don’t go too hard on yourself, Cynthia. You’ve been working nonstop for the past week.” 

“I’m fine, Ophelia,” she said. “Once I take a power nap, I’ll be completely rejuvenated. I’m only working so hard because someone has to be the leader.” 

“And who says you have to be the leader all by yourself?” 

“Who else is going to do it?” 

Ophelia laughed, shaking her head. “That’s not what I mean--I think you’re a great fit for the leader. But the burden doesn’t have to be yours alone. You can always ask me for help--or anyone else, I’m sure.” 

She flopped back onto the pillow, sighing. Ophelia could read her like no one else. 

Cynthia wasn’t sure what the catalyst had been. Perhaps it was that gut-dropping feeling after the return the past, when she learned XANA had gotten her father. Perhaps it was the way her world paused, when she learned XANA had given her the keys to Lyoko. Perhaps it was when she’d realized that, until they defeated XANA, she would never have a moment to rest--because she possessed the keys, Cynthia would have to go to Lyoko every single time. Or perhaps it was when she’d realized how much danger they were in; not just herself, not just her friends, but her family--everyone she’d grown up with. Perhaps it was the moment she realized all of these fears at once--when it felt like gravity itself was trying to pull her down to the center of earth and tear her body apart. 

Perhaps it was the fact that, despite being surrounded by her friends, she still felt like she was carrying this weight alone. Only she could stop XANA’s attack. Only she knew about the keys. Only she knew about her grandfather’s involvement, or her mother’s ten year imprisonment in the digital world. Barely three weeks ago, she’d been a regular teenage girl--with no real responsibilities, and no world-shattering secrets. 

“Ophelia,” she said--she wasn’t sure how long that silence had lasted. “Can I tell you something?” 

Her chair swiveled around, her eyes lit up with uncertain intrigue. “Of course.” 

Cynthia sat straight up and let out a sigh. “It’s about Lyoko,” she said. 

She inched her chair closer to her bed. “Okay. Um, what is it?” 

Her fingers fiddled with the sheets of her bed. Cynthia looked up at her. “Obviously, you know I’m the only one who can deactivate the towers. After last week’s attack, my parents had another talk with me, and they explained why I can do that.” 

She paused. Ophelia nodded solemnly, patiently. “And?” she said. 

She took a breath. “I have what are called the keys to Lyoko. Whoever has the keys can sort of...access anything in Lyoko, through the holographic file. My mother had the keys as well, when our parents fought on Lyoko. My parents think that XANA must have given me the keys.” 

She realized by the look on Ophelia’s face that this secret was very inconsequential. Her friend remained silent for a moment. 

“Okay,” she said, nodding and appearing a bit dumbfounded. “Is, uh, that all?” 

It wasn’t. The other secrets bounced on the tip of Cynthia’s tongue, urging her to divulge them to the world. 

“Yeah,” she lied. “I know, it seems silly to worry about. It’s not a big deal. I just needed to tell someone, so obviously I told you.” 

Ophelia smirked. “I think you definitely need that nap,” she said. She stood up from the chair and grabbed her key from the desk. 

“I’m heading for the cafeteria,” she said, walking to the door. “Get your beauty sleep.” 

* * *

Aelita tossed her keys onto her kitchen counter, the silver metal rattling against the marbletop. She had just returned from work, and, she realized glancing at the clock in her kitchen, she’d come back in the nick of time. Her dinner plans were at six sharp, and the clock read that it was 5:50. She took out her phone and shot a quick text to Yumi, warning her she might be late. 

As Aelita scaled the stairs to her bedroom to change, her brain wanted nothing more than to fling her body onto her bed and call it a night. This day had felt excruciatingly long. Work itself was tiring enough--a seemingly ceaseless line of patients had filled the emergency room today. On top of that, she’d hardly been able to focus for even a minute of it. Her coworkers had asked her if she was feeling alright, and Aelita had repeatedly assured them she was. 

Of course, she wasn’t--but Aelita was no stranger to hiding the truth. From the beginning to the end of her shift, from her waking hour to dusk, the question of XANA had lingered in the back of her head. Jeremie’s theorizing the night before had sent her mind racing. She searched the depths of her mind, dusted the untouched corners as she pondered XANA’s newest plan. 

Around midday, she’d stumbled upon the most likely theory. She needed an explanation as to why XANA would lead her daughter and the rest of their children to the supercomputer, when he could have been perfectly able to launch his attacks unimpeded. It was paradoxical behavior. 

It was only by pondering another question that Aelita solved her first question. It was the question of how XANA had revived himself from the dead. She lacked even the beginning of an answer to that--but she’d theorized that, however he came back, XANA may likely be in a weakened state. Perhaps he was attempting to regain his power--and perhaps he aimed to do that by using the kids to launch returns to the past. He’d done the same to Jeremie and her friends when they first discovered Lyoko, and had been unaware that the supercomputer’s time travel capabilities empowered their enemy. 

That was only a theory, though, and it was a theory to answer only one of many other questions. On top of the manner of his revival, Aelita still lacked a satisfactory answer as to why her daughter had acquired the keys. If XANA had given Cynthia the keys, why had he not used them to escape the supercomputer again? That was another assumption on her part--she had no idea whether XANA was free from the supercomputer, yet it made no sense for him to attack locally if he was. Answering such questions was hardly plausible with a plethora of unknown variables. 

She sighed and shook her head, shaking these thoughts away. She needed to get ready for the dinner. Aelita put on a presentable blouse and jeans, twisting her body in the mirror. This would do. Her day had been too stressful to put much thought into her outfit. She hoped tonight would be a night to forget about it all, if only temporarily. 

She wasn’t sure what time Jeremie would come from work, but she wanted to make sure she had a chance to present her theory to him, the sooner the better. Aelita quickly walked down the stairway and entered the kitchen. She opened the drawer and snatched a post-it note, scribbling a note to her husband: _Need to talk tonight. About X._ She’d always found notes like these were better at catching his attention than a text. As Aelita walked towards the counter to place the note and pick her keys, she noticed something else laying on the countertop that had evaded her attention: a piece of printer paper taped to a white box. 

The message was simple: _Have fun at the dinner tonight! :)_. Aelita was confused why Jeremie would print a whole sheet of paper for a six word message. She removed the box’s cover and gasped: a beautiful necklace lay inside. 

Her mind quickly ran through the short list of their anniversaries. She glanced at her phone for the date: September 6th. Their first date anniversary wasn’t until later this fall, and their wedding anniversary was in June. What else was there--the anniversary of her materialization? That was coming this winter. No other special occasion came to mind, but Jeremie wasn’t the kind to randomly splurge on jewlery, especially one so gaudy. Perhaps it wasn’t her style, but she couldn’t say it wasn’t pretty. And he’d put some thought into it--there was a beautiful purple amethyst, her birthstone. It couldn’t hurt to wear it for one day. 

She locked the necklace around her neck. The gemstone was cold against the notch of her neck. She unlocked the camera app of her phone to inspect herself: the necklace oddly went well with her outfit. 

Aelita smiled to herself. It might have been uncharacteristic, but it was a sweet gesture from Jeremie nonetheless. 

* * *

Hiroki rolled over in his bed, untangling his legs from his comforter and sheets. He opened his eyes only to be immediately blinded. He’d woken up right at sunset, and its orange rays pierced the window directly into his eyeline. He groaned and rolled back to the other side of his bed. He reached down and disconnected his phone from his charger. Checking the time, he’d realized he’d fallen asleep for over an hour and a half. After escaping from Cynthia’s boot camp, he’d played on his Switch for a bit before succumbing to his tiredness. He heard the music still playing from under his sheets--he’d forgotten to turn it off, it seems. 

Hiroki placed the Switch back in its dock and attempted to make his bedhair hair look neat. He was in dire need of a haircut. He wandered out of his room, into the hallway, searching for something to do. His mind felt like gunk after failing to learn programming. He could hear the clatter of silverware and plates from the dining room downstairs. He assumed his parents were having dinner with the other adults. His stomach rumbled at the thought of food. Hiroki liked his friends’ parents enough, but wandering downstairs wasn’t worth risking having to say hello right now--he was still in the process of waking up. He could fast for a little longer. 

He sat himself at the top of the stairway, scrolling idly through social media to cure his boredom. One of his classmates had just posted a sunset selfie on the riverfront with the factory visible in the background. Hiroki smiled as he liked the post and quickly exited the app, his mind still dull. He opened the messages app and shot a text to a group chat with the twins, asking if any of them were busy tonight. 

An immediate response from Ophelia: _no im not please save me cynthia’s asleep and flynn is being boring rn_

As he read the text, Hiroki could hear her father’s laughter echo through their house’s walls. Most likely at his own joke. Hiroki typed: _Do you wanna like go to the mall or park or something. I’m super bored._

Flynn replied: _Ophelia u asswipe._

The floorboards of the stairs creaked. Hiroki looked up from his phone to see Viktoria. 

“Who’s all down there?” he asked her. 

“Mom, Dad, Odd, Aelita,” she said. “Why are you perched on the stairs like that?” 

He shrugged. “Bored.” Viktoria walked past him to her room, shutting the door behind her. 

Another text from Flynn: _Can we meet at the Kadic park?? I dont wanna walk far Im tired_

His sister quickly retorted: _lazy ass. i’m down to meet there later tho_

Hiroki typed back: _I can meet you guys in like an hour probably_. 

A simultaneous text from each twin: _kk_ and _Sounds good_

Just then, he heard the sound of plates crashing. Hiroki’s heart jumped, and he poked his head past the stairway banister to listen. Viktoria’s bedroom door opened back up, her curiosity piqued as well. 

“Aelita,” raised Odd’s voice, “what’s up with you? You seem--” 

“Odd,” said Hiroki’s mother. “Look at her eyes. Something’s wrong.” 

Viktoria burst down the stairs. Hiroki took a second to realize what this meant and followed after her, hearing the adults scream in horror. He entered the kitchen and examined the scene. Ceramic shards were scattered across the floor. Silverware was sprawled out across the table, one of the butterknives stuck in their yellow kitchen wall. Hiroki’s mother, father, and Odd had risen from their chairs, backing away from the table. He looked over at Aelita and recognized it immediately in her eyes: the sign of XANA. 

Her body jumped over the table, more plates crashing to the ground and shattering. Hiroki’s father quickly swung at her--Aelita grabbed him by the wrist and twisted his arm, a surge of electricity travelling up his body. Odd attempted to catch her by surprise and threw his chair at her. The chair blew up into splinters as Aelita shot a blast of lightning at it. She grabbed Odd by the collar of his shirt and hurled him towards the sink. 

Aelita locked eyes with Hiroki’s mother, the symbol of XANA pulsating in her pupils. She lunged towards her and pinned her to the ground, her knees digging into her abdomen and her fingertips crackling. His mother cried out in pain as Aelita pressed her electrified fingers against her temples. 

Viktoria quickly ran to the kitchen cabinet and pulled out a pot. She swung it at Aelita and smacked her straight in the back of her head. Her body fell to the floor and began to glitch out, her distorted voice screaming in pain. 

Viktoria walked over to their father, while Hiroki ran over to his mother and inspected her state. From the movement of her chest, he could see she was still breathing, but her eyes were rolled back. Black singes marked each of her temples. 

Odd appeared next to to Hiroki, quickly recovered. His hand rubbed against his mother’s cheek. “I think XANA got her,” he said, the usually persistent tone of cheerful optimism gone from his voice. “I’m sorry.” 

“You need to call the others,” Viktoria said, as she helped their father stand up. “And we need to evacuate our house before she wakes up.” 

Hiroki nodded and pulled out his phone. He typed out the first text: _Change of plans_. 

* * *

The door opened. The lights turned on. The sound of panicked chatter filled the room. Cynthia opened her eyes. 

She took a moment to gather her bearings. She was in her dorm room. Ophelia was talking to someone, a worried expression scrawled across her face. Cynthia sat up and saw Flynn standing in the doorway, his mouth moving as he looked at her. 

She initially couldn’t understand what they were saying--her body was still drowsy. It took one phrase to pump the adrenaline through her veins and wake her up: 

“XANA is attacking.” 

“Oh my God,” she said. She quickly rose from her bed. “What’s happening?” 

“Hiroki just texted us,” Flynn explained. “XANA’s possessed your mom, and he’s attacking our parents.” 

Cynthia stared at the wall. Her mother and father, back to back. 

Just for a moment, she was paralyzed with indecision. Her mind was urging her to stay put, to hide herself from the world under her sheets and let it all out. But she rejected that feeling, pushing it to another corner of her mind. Someone had to save the rest of their parents. Someone had to be the leader. 

“Okay,” she said. “Let’s go to the factory.” 

_So much for taking a break_ , she thought. 

* * *

Hiroki made up the tail end of the pack, right behind his sister. She was always the better runner, but the both of them were trailing their father and Odd. Hiroki and Viktoria hustled to keep up with their pace, following every sharp turn they take. Every block or so, he twisted his head back--no sight of Aelita so far. 

“Where exactly are we going?” Hiroki shouted to the two adults. 

“The factory!” yelled back his father. 

“What?” asked Viktoria. “XANA’s gonna find us if we hide there.” 

“XANA’s gonna find us no matter what,” hollered Odd. “What matters is that the public doesn’t see us, and that you guys get to Lyoko.” 

He took another right on the sidewalk, almost running straight into a pedestrian. Hiroki and Viktoria yelled their apologies to her as they followed behind. Turning the corner, they could see the factory bridge was within sight now. Their father bolted across the street, oncoming traffic honking their cars and cussing the four of them out. Hiroki picked up his pace to avoid becoming roadkill. 

They paused from running for just a moment, the four of them out of breath. Hiroki fell down to his knees and began panting. Even at nighttime, running was a killer. His arms were moist with sweat, and the humid late summer air only made it worse. 

His father began walking onto the bridge. Hiroki rose up, his break already at its end. At least there was no more running. 

The manhole at the end of the bridge began rumbling. Hiroki’s body tensed up, assuming the worst. He dropped his guard when a familiar head popped out from the hole: Ophelia. 

He and Viktoria ran ahead of their father and Odd. The other three were just as out of breath as they were. 

“You got here quickly,” said Viktoria. 

“So did you guys,” said Cynthia. Her eyes flitted left and right as she scanned the bridge. Her eyebrows furrowed. “Is your mother…?” 

“XANA got her,” she said. 

“Oh, gosh. I’m sorry.” 

Viktoria sighed. “Thanks. There’s no time to waste, though. Who’s going to Lyoko, and who’s staying back?” 

“I can stay back,” volunteered Flynn. 

“None of you are staying back,” said Flynn’s father, he and Hiroki’s father catching up to the group. 

Ophelia frowned. “Someone needs to fight off XANA,” she pointed out. “I can stay with Flynn, just so we’re safe--”

“Your dad and I are perfectly capable of doing that,” Hiroki’s father said. “We have years of practice.” 

“XANA only has one target left,” said Odd, “and that’s me. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.” 

“But Dad--” began Ophelia. 

“No, Ophelia. You’ll all be more helpful if you’re all on Lyoko. The more of you there are, the faster the tower can be deactivated. Okay?” 

Ophelia sighed, clearly dissatisfied. “Fine,” she said. 

“And one more thing,” said Hiroki’s father. “Try not to do a return to the past, if you can avoid it.” 

Cynthia cocked her head. “Why’s that?” she asked. 

“We’ll explain later,” he said. “There’s not a whole lot of--” 

His whipped back at the sound of something crackling. At the end of the bridge, just barely recognizable with her figure illuminated by the city lights, stood Aelita, her body heaving in exhaustion. 

“Shit,” his father said. He began herding them into the factory, towards the jump-off balcony. “Go, go, now!” 

Cynthia and the twins actress quickly, jumping onto the ropes and descending to the lower floor. When they landed, both Hiroki and Viktoria grabbed the ropes. Before he jumped, he looked back at his father: 

“Good luck, Dad,” he said. 

A cocky smile formed on his face. “When you’re this good, you don’t need luck,” he said. “Don’t worry.” 

* * *

Hiroki and Viktoria were the last ones to enter the elevator. As soon as they did, Flynn pressed the button to close the door and go down. 

The elevator had never seemed slower than it did today. Every creak of metal scraping against metal as it descended towards the lab room seemed tantalizingly long. Flynn closed his eyes, his foot patting against the metal floor. 

“You okay?” Ophelia asked. 

He opened his eyes. “Well, no,” he said. 

“I can tell,” she said, pointing to his foot. “You always do that, when you’re really worried.” 

“Just worried about Dad,” he admitted. 

She nodded understandingly. “I am too. But he’s a fighter. We’re all fighters.” 

The elevator door opened up to the laboratory. The five of them looked at each other uncertainly, waiting for someone to volunteer to man the computer. 

“I can do it,” said Flynn. He hoped some of the practice Cynthia’d put him through would help him out. He walked over to the computer and turned it on. The hologram of Lyoko appeared, illuminating the room. 

“Wait,” said Cynthia, running out from the elevator. She dug something out from her pocket--folded up pieces of paper. She unfolded them to reveal the sheets of programming codes. 

“Use this,” she said, flattening out the sheets. “It has virtualization, return to the past, and you can even access the cameras, if you want.” 

“Wow,” he said, taking the papers from her. “You’re prepared for everything.” 

She grinned as she walked back to the elevator. “That’s my job. Good luck.” 

Cynthia and Ophelia both gave him a thumbs up as the elevator door closed. Flynn took a deep breath--now wasn’t the time to mess up. 

* * *

Cynthia virtualized last into Lyoko. As she landed on her feet and scanned the imminent area, she realized this was the fourth and final sector she’d read about in her mother’s diary: the desert sector. The area lived up to its name. They stood on a wide yellow platform that stretched out as far as could be seen in every direction; the sky was a hazy orange. The landscape was barren; the only change from the flat ground was tall rock formations, visible to them only far off in the horizon. 

“Turn right,” ordered Flynn over the microphone, “and head east. You should find the tower soon.”

Ophelia flew off into the air, leading the way while Cynthia, Hiroki, and Viktoria travelled by foot. Cynthia kept an alert ear out for any monsters, despite there being no way for them to hide and surprise their party. 

True to Flynn’s word, they found the tower with ease, quickly. The plateau came to a sudden stop, becoming a cliff that dropped off into the Digital Sea. Far out and far below the cliff stood the tower, glowing XANA’s ominous shade of red. While they located the tower with ease, their journey couldn’t be too easy. Between the cliff and the tower lay...nothing. There was no path connecting the bottom of the cliff to the tower. To jump off would be to plunge directly into the sea. 

Ophelia landed next to them, cocking her head. “Flynn, we’ve got a problem.” 

“What’s up?” 

“We’re at the edge of the cliff,” said Viktoria, “and then it just drops off. Into nothing.” 

“The tower’s all the way on its tiny island,” added Hiroki. “And there’s no way for us walkers to get there.” 

“What?” said Flynn. “That’s weird. The map says there’s a giant platform below the cliff.” 

Cynthia’s ears picked up a sound from behind. The sound of something buzzing, almost like a horde of bees, coming closer and closer. She whipped around. 

“We have company,” she announced. 

The others turned back. Three wasp-like monsters were approaching on the horizon, the deep sound of their fluttering wings audible even from afar. The warriors prepared themselves: Viktoria and Hiroki taking out their axe and knives, Cynthia gripping her staff, and Ophelia flapping her own wings to take flight. 

“And what are these uglies called?” asked Viktoria. 

“Hornets,” said Cynthia. 

“More creative than Bloks, I guess,” said Ophelia. “Let’s get ‘em.” 

The Hornets began to fire. Ophelia took off into the air, their bullets hitting the ground where her feet had stood. They easily dodged her bullets and focused their fire on the groundwalkers. Hiroki hurled a dagger, missing by inches as the Hornet swerved. As the wasps fire came closer and closer, Cynthia inched away, conscious of the cliffdrop behind her. 

Ophelia glanced down and noticed their proximity to the cliffdrop. She soared down and slammed her body into all three of the Hornets, their bodies pushing each other like dominoes. All three of the monsters and Ophelia fell to the ground, one of the Hornets exploding from the sliding friction. 

Ophelia quickly stood up and ran back to the group, firing two bullets at the wasps, each missing. The Hornets recovered just as quickly and fired their lasers at her, each hitting her wings. The force of the attack made Ophelia stumble and trip over the cliff, her body free falling through the air. 

“Ophelia!” cried out Cynthia. 

Her body spun in the air, her black wings entangling with her robe. Cynthia gripped her staff and pointed down, concentrating her energy. A platform jetted out from the cliffside, materializing just in time to catch Ophelia. 

“Watch out!” Hiroki exclaimed, jumping behind Cynthia. She turned around and saw he’d taken a hit from one of the Hornets. He threw one of his daggers in retaliation; the blade missed its target but clipped the monster’s wings. The Hornet fell to the ground and squirmed, unable to take flight. The monster was easy pickings for Hiroki now; he devirtualized the Hornet with another blade straight to its forehead. 

One last monster remained. The third Hornet charged towards Hiroki. Viktoria shotued out a warning to her brother, only too late. The monster’s hornet hit him square in the chest. He stumbled backwards, pushing Cynthia off of the cliff with him. The Hornet chased after them down the cliffside, rapidly firing. Three more bullets hit Hiroki square in the chest, devirtualizing him. 

Cynthia held out her staff and tried to create another platform, only to feel something wrap around her body. She opened her eyes: Ophelia had flown up and caught her, saving her from a fall into the sea. 

“Good catch,” she murmured to her. She grinned. 

The smile on Ophelia’s face disappeared as the buzzing wings of the Hornet came closer. She swerved out of the way, just barely dodging its laser; Cynthia could tell she was struggling to fly with extra weight. The Hornet fired again--this thing was persistent. Cynthia held out her staff and summoned her purple shield, providing temporary cover. She kept a watchful eye on the monster as Ophelia attempted to hover back to the platform. 

Something sliced straight through the Hornet, instantly devirtualizing it. Cynthia let out a sigh of relief as she saw Viktoria’s axe hovering in midair, slowly levitating back to its owner at the top of the cliff. Ophelia returned to the platform on the cliffside and dropped Cynthia on the ground. 

“Jesus,” she said. “Don’t ever ask me to carry you again.” 

“Sounds like someone’s not grateful for the platform I made her.” 

Viktoria jumped down from the clifftop, grunting as she made her landing. “Christ, that’s rough on the knees,” she remarked. 

Cynthia stepped to the end of the platform and took in the scene. The vacant space between her and the tower was dauntingly and intimidatingly wide. 

“Well played, XANA,” she muttered to herself. “You’re never out of tricks, are you.” 

* * *

Hiroki fell out of the scanner, coughing violently. Devirtualization never got any better. His chest hurt where the Hornet had rapidly stung him--he felt like he had heartburn. 

“Flynn!” he shouted up, his voice echoing against the walls. He hoped Flynn could hear him through the open ladder shaft. 

“Hiroki?” his voice yelled back after a moment. “Is that you?” 

“How are our dads doing against XANA?” he asked. 

A moment of hesitance. “Uh...not really sure!” 

Hiroki walked over to the elevator and pressed the button. Raising his voice, he said clearly: “I’m going up to help them out!” 

The elevator door opened up, and Hiroki quickly pressed the button to go up. The metal door closed behind him. He’d only been on Lyoko for maybe ten minutes max--short enough of a time for his dad and Odd to hold up in a fight. Both of Hiroki’s parents were lost causes, and though he wished he’d gotten to the kitchen sooner to save his mother, no return to the past could undo that. The best he could do now was salvage what was left, and that meant protecting Flynn’s father. 

The door opened up at the top floor. Hiroki ran out towards the ropes and began climbing--it was always harder going up. He’d wished he tried harder at rope-climbing in gym. As he scaled to the top floor, he could hear loud grunts echo from the bridge--he guessed that was XANA exchanging blows with Odd and his father. 

He jumped off the rope onto the top floor. They were faring as well as he could hope. Both of them were still standing on their legs and fighting, at least. Flynn’s father was standing at the entrance to the factory, heaving heavily. Hiroki’s father was on the bridge, dodging a punch from Aelita. His jacket was singed and torn, marking the damage XANA had already done. 

As Hiroki walked towards the bridge, Odd turned his head back, his shoulders tensing at the sound. “Hiroki?” he asked. “What are you doing here? We told you to--” 

“Got devirtualized,” he said. “Gotta make myself useful somehow.” 

His father’s head turned at the sound of his voice. “Hiroki?!” he said, his eyes widening in alarm. Aelita lunged the moment he was distracted. She tackled him to the ground and placed her electrified palm on his chest. His father screamed out in pain as the current surged through his body. 

Hiroki ran out to help his father, but Odd outpaced him. Aelita growled as she released a stream of lightning towards him. He anticipated the attack and leapt out of the way. His fist made contact with her chest as he landed on the ground, knocking her off Hiroki’s father. 

Odd inspected his friend just for a moment, checking for vitalities. He gently placed his fingers against the cavity in his neck. He sighed in relief--Hiroki’s father was unconscious, but alive. Aelita was already beginning to stir, the glitching gradually stopping and her arms twitching. Odd jolted up and ran back to the factory, yelling to Hiroki, “Stay inside!” 

Hiroki stood there uncertain of where to hide. Odd grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into the depths of the factory, urging him to be quiet as they ran. 

They hid behind one of the beams supporting the ceiling. Odd had found a nearby brick left from construction, claiming it as his makeshift weapon. As they sat down, Odd craned his neck past the beam to check the bridge: Aelita’s body was still on the ground, recovering. 

He exhaled. Beads of sweat lined his forehead, and dirty stains and singes marred his jeans as well. 

“She did a number on you,” remarked Hiroki, his voice hushed. 

Odd chuckled quietly. “Yeah. She’s a hell of a fighter, possessed or not.” 

“How did she get possessed?” 

“Some necklace she was wearing,” he said. “It startled sparkling during dinner, and then she went berserk. At first I thought she was just mad at some dumb joke I made.” 

Hiroki laughed--even at times like this, Odd found the opportunity to lighten the mood. “How’d she get the necklace, though?” 

Odd shrugged. “Not sure. XANA’s pulled this trick on us before.” He checked the bridge again--still no sign of Aelita. 

“Listen,” Odd said, leaning in towards Hiroki. “If you get hurt badly under my watch, I don’t know which of your parents would kill me first. My bet’s on your mom, though.” Hiroki nodded in agreement. “You’re part of the Lyoko team now, but just...be careful.” 

“I will,” he said, unsure how easily he could keep that promise. “I just don’t want you guys to forget about all this.” 

Odd gave him a reassuring smile. “That’s considerate of you, kiddo. Your dad and I--and the rest of our gang--we might forget about today, but we won’t forget about XANA, trust me. We’ll still be around to help.” 

He paused. Hiroki listened: he could hear the sound of panting and grunting echo against the factory walls, getting closer and closer. Aelita had awakened. 

Odd gripped his brick and rose up. “Get ready, kiddo.” 

* * *

Cynthia squatted at the edge of the platform, resting her palms on her staff to balance herself. The three of them had been sitting in silence for a good few minutes--no new monsters had appeared, but Cynthia could feel that time was running short. 

The tower floated above the sea, its twisting black wires disappearing into the ground. She looked straight down: a platform jetted out from the cliff’s bottom, its width only a few feet. Jumping further down would do them no good. 

“I’m out of ideas,” she admitted, turning back to Ophelia and Viktoria. 

“You sure Ophelia can’t just fly you there?” suggested Viktoria. 

Ophelia scoffed. “I was struggling to hold her for ten seconds. If I try carrying her, I think both of us are taking a swim.” 

Viktoria shrugged. “Just spitballing ideas. What if you used your staff to create a bridge?” 

Her fingertips rubbed the orb of her staff. She eyed the swirling energy. “I’m not sure how well I can control this thing,” she admitted. 

“If she can’t make a bridge that won’t collapse under our feet,” said Ophelia, “it’s best not to try it.” 

Viktoria sighed. “Anyone got any ideas that won’t be shot down, then?” 

“I’m just making sure we don’t get killed by your ideas,” retorted Ophelia. 

“And I’m making sure our parents don’t get killed by XANA.” 

“Can you guys be quiet if you’re just gonna argue?” interrupted Cynthia. “We need to come up with a plan, and quick.” 

“I don’t get it,” came in Flynn’s voice. “The map says that if you jump down, you’ll land on solid ground. The computer’s never lied to us before, has it?” 

Viktoria walked to the edge next to Cynthia, gripping her axe. “Solid ground, huh? You sure, Flynn?” 

“Not at all,” he said. “I still barely know how to use this.” 

“Stand back,” she uttered to Cynthia. Cynthia stepped back and stood next to Ophelia, unsure of Viktoria’s next move. 

Her silver armor clinked as she hurled the axe off the platform, both the metal of her plates and the steel of her axe glimmering and reflecting the harsh desert light. Viktoria held her hand out, and Cynthia expected her to retrieve her weapon with her telekinesis--but the axe kept free falling down. 

Viktoria turned around with a proud smile. “Take a look at that.” 

Both Cynthia and Ophelia cautiously approached the edge, their eyes uncertainly curious. Cynthia gasped. It appeared as if the axe had stopped spinning in midair. It almost looked like its blade had dug into some invisible object. 

“Did it glitch?” Ophelia asked. “How did you do that?” 

“It’s not a glitch,” Viktoria said. “The ground’s still there, just like Flynn said. We just can’t see it.” 

Ophelia eyed the sea cautiously. “Are you sure about that?” 

Viktoria laughed. “I’ll prove it again, just to soothe you.” 

Without hesitation, she jumped off of the platform. Ophelia gasped as Viktoria’s body stopped in midair. Her feet stood firmly on the solid ground, as if she was walking on glass. 

“This world’s full of surprises,” Ophelia muttered. She looked at Cynthia, grabbing her hand. “Ready to jump?” 

“Ready when you are.” 

* * *

Aelita ran straight past them, so determined in her search that she missed their hiding spot. She turned her neck as Odd whistled at her, the surprise evident in her possessed eyes. An inhuman growl escaped her throat. 

Hiroki stood back as Odd traded blows with Aelita. It all happened quickly: her electric blast missed the skin of his neck. Odd hurled his brick at her, which she easily sidestepped. Her body moved at lightning speed, and suddenly she was gripping Odd by his neck, the veins of her arms popping out. 

Hiroki cried out as he tackled Aelita. She grunted, dropping Odd. He screamed in pain as he felt her elbow dig deep into his ribs. He could smell something metal as a liquid stained his shirt. Aelita kicked him aside, cracking more of his ribs. His vision went blurry--he could make out Odd’s figure running away, and Aelita’s behind him in hot pursuit. 

* * *

Cynthia landed onto the invisible platform side-by-side with Ophelia. The tower was dead ahead. 

“Flynn,” she said, “we won’t fall if we go straight, correct?” 

“You’re good to go.” 

Cynthia bolted, the two girls running right behind her. They had overcome XANA’s illusion, but it became apparent that wasn’t his last defense. In front of the tower materialized two Bloks out of thin air. As soon as their scuttling legs made contact with the ground, they opened fire. 

“Head to the tower!” Ophelia shouted to her, running ahead. “Viktoria and I will take care of these!” 

“Piece of cake,” muttered Viktoria. 

Viktoria’s body glew white as she summoned her axe, its blade still stuck in the ground. Ophelia soared into the air, the Bloks attempting to shoot her down. A line of silver sliced right through one of the Bloks. Viktoria caught her axe as it boomeranged back to her. 

The second Blok jumped in alarm at its comrade’s demise. Its six-sided head turned towards Cynthia as she approached the tower. As she raised up her staff, ready to defend herself, Ophelia swooped down and fired three bullets into its target. 

Cynthia entered the tower, the sound of the exploding monster muffled as her body submerged into the wall. 

* * *

Aelita caught up to Odd with ease, like a leopard hunting its prey. Her body knew the routine by know. She pinned him to the ground, and she dug her knees dug into his abdomen, preventing him from standing up. She sent a slight jolt into his arms to weaken him. Odd was screaming her name, begging her to stop and remember him. 

She held her fingers against his temples. His eyes rolled back, and his screams stopped. 

Aelita smiled as she stood up. She’d done well. The attack was over--there was just one step left. She walked over to the edge of the bridge and searched the factory’s facade for the nearest security camera. Her hand hastily grabbed the phone in her pocket and dialed a number. 

* * *

Flynn’s pounding heart had come to a rest when Cynthia entered the tower. He let out a loud sigh of relief and slunk back in his chair. Manning the computer during these missions turned out to be just as stressful as fighting on Lyoko--but they had pulled it off. He began rifling through Cynthia’s sheets of papers to search for the code for returning to the past, only to remember their parents’ warning earlier. 

“No return to the past, then?” he suggested to the ladies on Lyoko. 

“No witnesses besides us,” said Cynthia. “Our parents know better than we do, so I guess not.” 

Suddenly, Flynn’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out--an unknown caller. He put the phone on speaker: “Hello?” 

A strange voice answered him. A harsh, distorted voice that sounded strangely familiar. “Hello, Flynn.” 

He stared at the phone number, seeing if it was at all familiar to him. This call puzzled him; perhaps it was a poorly timed prank call. “Who is this?” 

The voice on the other scoffed at his audibly frightened state. “It’s XANA, and I have a proposition.” 

Flynn froze. His throat was unable to make a sound. He realized what was so familiar: that was Cynthia’s mother’s voice, controlled by XANA. 

She kept talking: “Check the cameras on the bridge.” 

He hurriedly flipped through the pages Cynthia had given him, searching for the code. Aelita sighed on the other end. XANA’s patience was running thin. “Let me do it for you,” she said. 

Suddenly, a window split into four screens popped up, summoned by XANA’s invisible interference. The top right screen displayed live footage of the bridge. Flynn saw Hiroki’s father had been knocked out. Flynn searched for his own father--the bottom left camera showed the upper balcony of the factory. Flynn’s father was sprawled out on the ground, and Hiroki was slumped against the wall a few feet away from him. Aelita stood at the edge of the bridge, phone in hand as she stared directly at the camera. Even from afar, the symbol of XANA could be discerned in her eyes. 

“What’s your proposition?” he asked. 

“Initiate the return to the past,” said Aelita. 

“Flynn,” said Cynthia--he forgot his phone was on speaker and she could hear this conversation. “What’s going on?” 

“XANA wants us to return to the past,” he explained. 

“What?” she asked. “Why would we do that? I’ll deactivate it right now.” 

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself,” warned her possessed mother. “Tell the little Belpois this. I’m still controlling her mother’s body. If she deactivates the tower without a return to the past, her mother will drop into the river without anyone to save her. And here’s a supercomputer lesson--once someone dies, the return to the past can’t revert that. And if you take too long to make a decision, I’ll fling her body into the water myself. Act quickly.” 

Flynn stared at the computer screen. XANA’s eye contact with him through the camera was unwavering. He whispered into the microphone, “Cynthia--” 

“I heard it, Flynn,” she said. A crestfallen tone underlaid her voice. “I’ll enter the code in the tower right now.” 

Flynn breathed quietly. He held the paper with the codes for the return in his hand. He kept an eye on the camera as Aelita slumped from her rigid posture, XANA ejected from her body. Gravity lured her body down. Her limbs were lifeless, and her expression was without emotion as she plunged into the river. 

Flynn rapidly typed into the keys. He inhaled sharply--he prayed he hadn’t made a mistake. He pressed enter. 

The world submerged into a blinding white light. 

* * *

“The superscan is a critically important program. If you program it into your laptop or desktop, it will alert you to XANA’s attack the moment he activates a tower. Without this program, XANA can easily catch you off guard.” 

Aelita’s fingers tapped against the keyboard with a swift but certain speed as her husband lectured the children. The muscle memory had never left her fingertips. The metallic smell of the laboratory room, the clunky feel of the keyboard, the clicking sound as each finger pushed each key one by one--Aelita’s senses had never forgotten these sensations. 

“Mom,” Cynthia whispered to her. “Mom, I--” 

“Let me finish typing this up, Cynth,” she said to her. 

“No, Mom, listen.” Her daughter grabbed her by the arm and swivelled her chair around. Aelita looked at her with concern--what had gotten into her?

She paused. There was a frightened look of uncertainty in her daughter’s eyes. All five of the children had that glint in their eyes--they were looking at her expectantly, but for what she had no idea. 

“Is...is something wrong?” she asked. 

“What’s gotten into you kiddos?” asked Odd from the back. “What, is there something you see?” 

His daughter’s head whipped back as he said. She looked directly at her twin, their eyes exchanging some secret. “Oh my God,” Ophelia whispered. “They’re all--” 

“I know,” said Flynn. “We were too late.” 

Hiroki patted her on the shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he said to her. “I wanted to protect him--I really tried, I swear, Ophelia.” 

“I should’ve been faster,” muttered Cynthia. “I shouldn’t have waited so long.” 

“What on Earth are you all talking about?” Odd asked. 

The five of them fell silent, their eyes falling upon Cynthia to explain. Aelita held her breath. It couldn’t have happened, she thought. 

“Mom,” her daughter said, her eyes struggling to look at hers. “What’s the last thing you remember?” 

She felt every pair of eyes in the room stare at her--the children filled with morbid dread, while Odd and Jeremie were still piecing the puzzle together. She shook her head. “I only remember being in the factory,” she answered. “Cynthia, does this--” 

“Yes,” her daughter replied. “I’m sorry, Mom.” 

“Wait,” Odd said, standing up. “Aelita, did we--” 

“XANA got the last of us,” she answered. “You, me, and Yumi.” Cynthia nodded in confirmation. 

“We’re really sorry,” said Ophelia, her glance towards the ground. “We tried to deactivate the tower as soon as we could.” 

Aelita couldn’t believe it. For the past, she’d tried preparing herself mentally for this moment. She always knew it would happen without warning--Jeremie had told her he’d felt as if nothing had changed. Yet the strangeness of this feeling was still so foreign--for the first time ever, she had not even the slightest conception of how XANA had pulled off his attack. 

As she examined the faces on the five children, though, Aelita knew she couldn’t show her despair. She had to inspire them just as much as she needed to inspire herself. 

She took a deep breath. “It’s okay,” she said to them. “It’s not the end of the world. Right, Jeremie?” 

He nodded, pushing his glasses up. “Exactly,” he said. “XANA has only weakened us, but he hasn’t gotten rid of us. He can make us forget about his individual attacks, but we’ll never forget about XANA.” 

“If I’ve learned anything from my time fighting XANA,” piped Odd, “it’s that you can’t let the little victories get you down. You can’t defeat XANA every time--you just have to beat him in the end, when it matters.” 

She grinned--he sounded like a veteran recounting his war stories. Maybe they weren’t too far from that. 

The doubts in her mind were greater than Aelita let on, to the children or to her friends. Hearing them encourage their children improved her spirits. They both had a point--XANA could never get rid of them, and they would always beat him in the end. Nevertheless, the nagging paranoia persisted in her mind. It had taken multiple attempts, but XANA had accomplished his goal. They had known what to expect up until this moment. Now that XANA had won this battle, Aelita feared what would come next. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope the wait wasn't too long--college takes up a lot up of my time and weekly updates are...hard to live up to lol. But a pretty important chapter! Next time we'll see how the kids deal with the aftermath of this monumental attack. Thanks for reading again!


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